New In Forks
by Sh.C
Summary: Bella just moved in with her dad who has issues of his own. At school she sees the Cullens who she seems to have a strange connection to, except Edward, who seems to hate her! What if he left and she befriended the Cullens? What happens when he comes back
1. Chapter 1

_This story is borrowed. The true creator of this story is Sunybee, I made the mistake of assuming it was abandoned since it'd been a very long while before an update. Anywho, I finished it before she came back. I really can't take any credit for this story since it wasn't my idea. I hope you enjoy it.  
_

**Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns all characters so please don't sue me.**

My mother looked guilty as she dropped me off at the airport. I didn't care anymore.

"You're going to have so much fun in Forks, honey," She said with fake enthusiasm. We both knew it was a lie.

Ever since my parents split up 6 years ago, I've been visiting my father every summer in Forks, Washington, where I was born. It was always gloomy and rainy, not something I looked forward to. I would miss the sun and the heat most, now that I was moving back.

My mother looked at me, and sighed. "Look Bella, I'm sorry! But Phil _needs_ me now, honey, please understand." She pleaded.

Oh I understood, alright, I thought to myself. I understood how she loved the attention and money her new husband gave her more than she loved me, her only daughter. Phil was a baseball player and he'd just hit the major leagues. They met at a bar and he's been showering her with presents ever since. That's when my relationship with my mother went from great to miserable. My mother was easily impressed and loved expensive gifts. She compensated for her unsatisfactory parenting skills by buying me things thinking that I'd appreciate it. It only seemed to make me sadder. I'd gladly trade in all my material things for more time with my mom. However, time with me didn't seem to satisfy her anymore. There was nothing I could do. Finally she'd decided move to Florida with Phil… and I clearly wasn't invited. Phil was alright with my mother spending money on me, as long as the main focus was always on _him_.

Her eyes lit up as she reached into her purse and brought out little cardboard box with a pink bow on it. "Here's something to make your time in Forks a little easier."

I sighed as a looked at her. "Thanks, mom," I said dejectedly. Another compensation gift. Inside the little box was a platinum credit card with my name on it.

"You're going to need winter clothes! Buy yourself anything you want, honey, you deserve it!"

"Mom, you've already given me money to buy clothes, and a new car, and extra spending money. I don't need anything else."

"I know, but now you can get yourself some extra special stuff. Enjoy!" She beamed at me.

I looked at her, my face not being able to keep my emotion off any longer. My eyes slowly got moist as I looked at my mother. Her smile faded as she saw my expression. She looked down at her feet.

"Look Bella, I'm sorry, but it's better this way."

"Yeah, sure," I whispered, my voice thick with tears. "Bye mom." She hugged me one last time before I boarded the plane.

* * *


	2. Settling In

**Disclaimer: These characters belong to ME! Just kidding, Stephenie Meyer owns all.**

* * *

When I arrived in Port Angeles, Charlie, my dad, was waiting for me at the baggage claim. He looked genuinely please to see me. 

"Bells!" He exclaimed as he spotted me and scooped me up into a big hug. "I've missed you, kid!"

I hugged him back and gave him the best smile I could given my mood, "I've missed you too, dad."

Once we got my only suitcase (my mother had insisted that I'd need to buy winter clothes once I arrived, so I only brought the necessities and very few favorite items) I followed him to his cruiser. My dad was police chief of Forks. I studied him as he loaded my suitcase into the truck. He looked thinner, with bags under his eyes, and very unhealthy.

As we rode to Forks I shuddered at the thought of getting dropped off on my first day of school in the chief's cruiser. I hated too much attention and his car was sure to cause I scene.

"Um, dad?" I began.

"Yea?"

"I was hoping that we could go look at some cars today," It was only 1 o'clock in the afternoon on a Sunday; surely the car dealerships would be open. "Mom gave me enough money to buy myself a pretty nice car, but I'm fine with anything, I just need to get around."

Charlie grinned, sheepishly as he looked at me, "Well, I kind of already bought you one, honey, as a welcome home present."

"You didn't have to do that, dad."

"I know, but I wanted to. It's perfect for you too."

I noticed he said it's perfect _for you_. "How old is it?"

Charlie grinned again, "It's new. I think you'll like it."

I was relieved; if it was new it couldn't be that bad, right? Charlie wouldn't give me anymore hints as to what the car was like so I spent the rest of the drive home wondering what kind of car he thought was perfect _for me_.

We finally pulled into the driveway at Charlie's house. It wasn't the house I'd remembered from my childhood. He sold that one shortly after him and Renee split up. My grandmother, Charlie's mother, died 3 years before, and Charlie didn't want to sell the cottage she'd lived in because his father had built it, so he moved in. It was a very cozy single home on an empty street, surrounded by trees. Parked in front of the car was a new ice-blue sporty looking car. It _was_ perfect for me!

"Dad!" I said, excitedly. "Is that…" I couldn't even finish. I was stunned.

"Do you like it?" He asked once we both got out of the cruiser and walked to the new car in the misty rain. It was beautiful.

I ran my hand on the perfect vehicle. "Dad, I love it!"

He smiled, "It's a Saab 9-3 sports sedan. It can go pretty fast. And it's not too small, or anything. I thought it'd be just right for you."

"It is!" I said, not being able to take my eyes off the new ride. "Thanks dad!"

* * *

My dad walked my suitcase up the stairs into a room facing the front of the house. It was a decent size and had its own bathroom! There was only a bed in there, though. I'd have to go furniture shopping soon. 

Charlie seemed to read my mind. "I guess it's pretty bare in here," he said as he looked around the lavender painted room with only a bed in it. "I painted it last week, your mom told me you liked purple, but I didn't have a chance to order furniture. I figured you'd like to pick that out."

I was touched. He was really happy to have me here. At least one parent cared about me. I choked back my emotion and smiled at him, "maybe we can take my new car for a test drive to the nearest pottery barn?"

He smiled back at me happily, "sure thing kid!"

* * *

I was exhausted by the time we got back. My furniture was being delivered tomorrow. I unpacked the random items I'd bought for my bathroom, towels, body washes, loofas and such, and also a few knickknacks it's picked up while we were out then went downstairs for to say goodnight. 

Charlie had a bottle of bourbon open on the coffee table and a glass already half empty in his hand. I tried not to over think it as I thanked him again for everything and left to bed.

I knew Charlie had had a problem with liquor before but surely those days were over? I felt bad as I thought about how my mother had driven him to that point.

On top of worrying about Charlie, I had my first day at a new school tomorrow. This town was small and everyone new each other, so I was sure to be the freaky outsider. Just great. I wanted to call my mom and tell her I got here just fine, but I decided against it. I was sure she was out with Phil. I missed her. Or at least, the old her. Before Phil


	3. First Day

**Disclaimer: These characters are all the product of Stephenie Meyer's brilliant mind. Therefore she owns all.**

* * *

I arrived early at Forks High School the next morning, and got my schedule at the front office. The school was composed of many brick houses grouped together. It was surrounded by trees and shrubs everywhere. Everything in Forks was covered with green stuff.

I tried my best to memorize the map given to me by the large red-haired woman in the office. I didn't want to have to walk around reading a map all day. Students were starting to arrive, so I made my way, as discreetly as I could to my first class. I introduced myself to the teacher and he pointed me to my new seat. Thank goodness it was in the back. Unfortunately its location didn't stop people from casting curious glances my way through the duration of the class period.

"Hi, I'm Mike," said a blond haired boy sitting in the desk next to mine. He was smiling at me bizarrely, as though he'd never seen a girl before. "You're Isabella, right?"

"Bella," I corrected. "Nice to meet you." I forced a somewhat friendly smile on my face. A few people turned around as I spoke.

Mike followed me around all morning to each of my classes. It was very nice of him but I couldn't help but feel uncomfortable in the way he looked at me. At lunch, he led me to his table and introduced me to some of his friends. I recognized three girls from some of my classes earlier that day and a few of the guys.

"So how do you like Forks so far," asked Jessica, a curly-haired girl I recognized from my Trigonometry class.

"It's very wet," I half-joked.

She laughed like it was the funniest thing she'd ever heard. Someone was clearly trying to get in on the unwanted attention I seemed to be getting everywhere I turned.

That's when I noticed them. There were sitting in the corner of the cafeteria, in obvious seclusion. However, this isolation from the rest of the school seemed odd to me because they were all so beautiful. There were three boys and two girls. One of the boys was big and muscular with dark wavy hair, the second was taller, leaner but still muscular with blond hair. The third boy was the most beautiful male I'd ever seen. He was leaner than the other two but still built. He had beautiful bronze colored hair that sat untidily on his perfect head. The girls sitting opposite them were just as beautiful. One was small and pixie-like and the other was breathtakingly blond and had a body that belonged on the cover of the _Sports Illustrated_ swimsuit issue. They all had perfect angular features and dark eyes.

"Who are they?" I asked Jessica who was sitting next to me.

She chuckled before she answered. "The Cullens," She answered. "They moved to Forks about 2 years ago. They keep to themselves, though."

I couldn't take my eyes away from them.

"The small girl is Alice, the blond is Rosalie. The big muscular one is Emmett, and the blond boy is Jasper. Jasper and Rosalie are twins. They were adopted by Dr. Cullen a long time ago." She explained. Then she lowered her voice in a scandalous way, "They're _together_ though. And they live together. Jasper and Alice are a couple and so are Rosalie and Emmett. Weird, right?"

"Who's the bronze haired one?" I asked curiously. At that precise moment he looked at Jessica, briefly. Then his eyes met mine. I felt my face flush as I looked away as quickly as I could.

Jessica giggled again. She was getting a little annoying. "That's Edward Cullen. He's Emmett and Alice's brother. He's gorgeous, of course, but he doesn't seem to like anyone in Forks." There was a certain underlying tone in her voice that made me think she'd had a failed attempt at attracting Edward.

I stole another quick glance at the Cullens' table. Edward Cullen was still staring at me with a mildly frustrated look on his face, a look of an unmet expectation. I blushed and looked away again.

Lunch was soon over and it was time for biology.

* * *

(**A/N: We all know what happened in biology so let's skip that part ok?)**

* * *

The ride home from school was… blurry. I couldn't help angry tears from surfacing. How could he be so mean?! He doesn't even know me! The least he could do is get to know me before he decides to hate me. I thought about possible offences I could have mistakenly committed but nothing seemed bad enough for the malicious hostility Edward Cullen had subjected upon me during biology.

I arrived home and immediately headed for my room. All my furniture had been delivered. To get my mind off of Edward Cullen I focused on rearranging my room to just how I liked it. I took my time organizing my clothes and other random junk, trying hard not to focus on the negative things on my mind; unfortunately it's the kind of work that keeps your hands busy and not your mind.

Confused about Edward and his obvious loathing of me and all the other boys in school and their strange awe of me, I decided the only thing I wanted right now was to talk to the only person who could help me figure things out right now.

I grabbed my cell phone and dialed my mom's number. It was time to let her off the hook anyway. It rang twice before she picked up.

"Hello?"

"Mom, it's me."

"Bella?"

"Yea," I hesitated for a second and then whispered, "I miss you, mom."

There was a silence on the other line.

"Mom, did you hear me?"

"Um, yea," she sounded distracted. "Hold on a second, honey."

She was talking to someone in the background, "yea, I know, I can't wait! Just let me get off the phone, one second." She returned, "Bella, let me call you back later, ok?"

"Sure, mom," I whispered. But she'd already hung up.

I sat there stunned for a few minutes before sinking onto my bed and crying.


	4. Whats So Special About Her?

**Stephenie Meyer owns all, except this plot which is owned by Sunybee.**

**Rosalie's POV**

Ok, Edward was so obviously over-reacting to this human girl. On the ride home from school he told us that he needed to get away and he'd be staying with Tanya's clan in Alaska for a while.

Esme was sick with worry about Edward and I hated him for that. No one should ever put Esme through that, she deserved, at the very least, an explanation.

Alice had talked to him briefly after the rest of us had gotten out of the car. She'd tried to explain the situation to the rest of us. We had gathered in the living room after Edward left trying to figure out what his dilemma was.

"There's something about that Swan girl." She said.

I scoffed at that. "I don't see anything special about her. Edward is just over-reacting as usual."

Jasper seemed to disagree. "She's not like the other children at that school. She's very guarded, and somehow insightful. Alice is right, though. There is something strange about her."

"Yea, it was like I knew her somehow," Emmett spoke. I glared at my husband.

"So what do we do?" asked Alice. "Do we just sit here and do nothing?"

"We can't do anything for Edward," said Emmett, running his hand through his hair. "But the Swan girl definitely has something to do with his leaving."

I groaned loudly and stood up from the couch. "That's it. You can all sit around here moping but I'm going to do something."

Alice got a blank look on her face briefly and then looked at me. "You're going to her house?!"

They all stared at me with disapproving looks.

"Ok, before you go crazy on me, just listen. We all know there's something about this girl, so why not go find out? I'm not going to do anything, I'm just going to look."

The room was silent for a few minutes as they all though it over.

Then Alice stood up too. "You're right, Rose. I'm coming with you."

* * *

**Alice's POV**

Rosalie and I drove to the police chief's house. It was on a little street not too far from the school. We parked about a mile away and ran there. We snuck around the house looking through the windows trying to find Bella.

The police cruiser wasn't in the driveway so we knew she was probably home alone.

"Ok, she's not downstairs," said Rosalie as we looked in the last window on the first floor.

I climbed the tree in the front of the house and looked in the first window. "Rose," I whispered, knowing she would hear me. She was next to me in half a second. We both looked at Bella Swan rearranging her room.

"What kind of idiot would put that mirror there?" Rosalie exasperated in a whisper. "Has she _never_ heard of feng shui?"

"Sshh!" I muttered. As I was watching Bella I couldn't help but notice how sad she looked. I also couldn't help but feel some kind of connection towards her.

She went to her bag and grabbed her cell phone.

"Mom, it's me," she said eventually. She seemed almost relieved to hear her mother's voice. But her relief quickly turned to sadness. "I miss you, mom." A few seconds passed. "Mom, did you hear me?" With our special hearing abilities we were able to hear both sides of the conversation even through the window. Bella's mother was obviously not paying attention to her daughter. Watching Bella's pain-ridden face made me upset. I looked at Rose and saw the emotion in her eyes also.

"Sure mom," said Bella into the phone, but it was too late. Her mother had already hung up. Bella stared at the phone silently for a minute, her eyes filling with tears before she turned to her bed and cried herself to sleep.


	5. Lunchtime Surprise

**Characters belong to Stephenie Meyer**

* * *

Edward Cullen wasn't at school the following day. Nor was he around for the next week or so. I couldn't help but feel responsible for his absence and it made me uncomfortable. Why me? He'd seemed fine that day in the lunch room (or at least I'm assuming he was fine, I'd never actually met him so I didn't know for sure.) I spent my first weekend in Forks obsessing over the strange behavior of Edward and his siblings. Sure enough, when I pulled into the parking lot the next week, I saw the other four Cullens stepping out of the silver Volvo with astonishing grace, but he was not among them. As I stepped out of my car I noticed that the four of them had stopped right outside their car and were staring right at me, as they had done every day for the past week. I blushed furiously again and dropped my keys. By the time I'd retrieved them the Cullens had gone.

I walked around all day in a daze. Why did they always stare at me lately? Had I done something? Where was their brother? Did they blame me for him not being there? It couldn't have been my fault; I didn't even talk to him! But my internal argument it wasn't enough to convince myself.

I followed Jessica into the cafeteria at lunch that day, not paying attention to her latest gossip. I was too lost in my Edward Cullen obsession.

"Hello Bella." Alice Cullen was suddenly standing next to me.

I dropped my tray.

Alice chuckled as she quickly grabbed it before I had a chance to. "Thanks," I stammered. They had all been casting strange, unreadable glances in my direction for days, but none of them had ever talked to me.

"You're welcome. I'm Alice Cullen." She looked at a stunned Jessica beside me. "Hello Jessica."

"Uh… um, hi Alice." She hastily tried to regain her composure and looked around at the shocked, gawking faces of her peers, clearly loving the attention. "Would you like to sit at our table today?"

Alice smiled kindly but I could see the slight annoyance in her eyes. I tried my best to keep a straight face. "No thanks, actually, I was wondering if I could steal Bella for a while?" She looked at me, waiting for my answer.

"Um, sure." I turned, "I'll see you later Jess," I said as Alice lead me to her table where three of the four other Cullens sat in unspoken radiance.

Emmett was the first to reach his muscled hand across the table and introduce himself to me. "Hi Bella!" He smiled at me warmly. His hand was cold and hard, like smooth marble.

"Hello," I said uneasily. This was weird. The infamous Cullens wanted to have lunch with _me_?

"This is Rosalie and Jasper," Emmett gestured to the two striking blondes sitting across from each other.

"Hello Bella," Rosalie smiled at me. It was like she was trying hard to be nice.

"Hi Bella," Jasper smiled also, although I noticed he was looking at me cautiously as though expecting something to happen.

I put my tray down next to Rosalie and sat down, Alice following me. I didn't know what to say, suddenly nervous at being in direct presence of the Cullen siblings. Did they want to talk to me about their brother? What would I say?

But soon a swift calm settled around me making me instantly comfortable. "How do you like Forks so far, Bella?" Jasper asked.

"Oh I just _love_ not being able to stay warm and dry," I said sarcastically.

Rosalie chuckled quietly and rolled her topaz eyes, "it would help if you wore an actual coat instead of a little hoodie!" she joked, lessening the tension I was feeling.

I grinned, sheepishly, "I guess I haven't gotten around to shopping for cold weather clothes. I don't really like shopping."

Alice gasped loudly, "You… don't… like…?"

Emmet rolled his eyes, "uh oh. Now you've done it, Bella."

Alice was still looking at me as though I was an alien of some kind, so I explained, "I don't really like attention, so I keep my clothes casual. It works for me."

Rosalie was looked me up and down, skeptically, "are you sure?"

I blushed a little and we all laughed.

"So what do you guys do around here for fun?" I asked, curious about what kids did for entertainment in Forks.

"Normal stuff," said Alice, "baseball, reading, movies."

"Baseball?"

"Yea, we like baseball." Alice tried to hide a smile. I felt like I was missing a joke of some sort.

I bit into my pizza slice and couldn't help notice that the food on their trays was untouched. "Is there something in the cafeteria food I should know about?"

They all chuckled, "nothing out of the ordinary. We're just not very hungry." Jasper said with a smile. This time I knew I wasn't missing out in some kind of inside joke. But I let it go.

We spent the majority of the lunch hour talking about boring classes and laughing at some of Emmett's jokes. Hanging out with the Cullens was strange. A small part of me was almost afraid of them and their strange perfection, like an internal warning that there was something off. But a major part of me felt comfortable with them, as though I'd known them forever. I didn't know whether or not they felt the same about me. I was sure they'd see past whatever impression they had that made them want me to hang out with them. I wasn't interesting in the least, nor was I anywhere near as stunning as they were. Surely the charade would be over soon and they would see me for what I was; an ordinary boring girl.

"So," I said after a while. I'd wanted to ask them this since I first sat down, but I hadn't had the nerve. I figured I'd probably not get another chance. "What happened to your brother? Is he sick or something? He seemed pretty… irate…" For lack of a politer word, "the last time I saw him."

I was looking down at my empty water bottle when I said this but out of the corner of my eye I could see them tense slightly.

"He went to Alaska for a while to visit some relatives." Alice answered finally.

"Oh." I said simply. That's when the bell rang and people started emptying out of the cafeteria. "Well, I'd better get to class." I said getting up.

They followed me with more grace than I could ever hope to have. Even Emmett, big and muscular as he may be, moved with such elegance that it was hard not to stare. I managed to keep my eyes forward though.

"See you later, Bella," called Alice as she headed to her next class. The others waved goodbye as well.

I walked in the cold, misty rain to biology. Rosalie was right, I definitely needed a coat. This hoodie was just not doing the trick. I decided I would go to Port Angeles right after school and stock up on winter clothes. It shouldn't be too hard to find.

Biology went slowly as I spent the period wondering about my missing partner. Gym was absolute torture. I managed to hit myself in the face with a basketball. Twice! That whole dribbling nonsense is a lot harder than it looks.

After what seemed like an eternity in gym, I was finally out. I changed and walked as quickly as I could to my car, I didn't want to have to spend any more time in the cold than I had to. I was looking down as I walked, trying to keep the now pouring rain out of my face, so I didn't realize that Alice was leaning against my car until I nearly bumped into her.

"So were you planning on going shopping?" She asked.

I couldn't respond for a moment. "How did you…?"

"Never mind that," She smiled, "would you mind if we joined you?"

Too stunned (or perhaps just too cold) to form sentences, I stammered "sure" and unlocked the door to my car. Alice was in the passenger seat before I could even shut my door.

"Rosalie will be joining us in a minute." She said.

I turned the car on and put the heat on full blast. "How'd you know I was planning on going shopping?"

She looked through the few cds I had in the car, "just figured after us teasing you at lunch that you'd finally come around to getting new clothes. I thought I'd ask, to be sure." She shrugged as though it was obvious.

One of the doors in the back opened and Rosalie entered the car. "Hey Bella," she smiled kindly. It was different than the smile she'd given me in the cafeteria. It was kinder and less forced. Before it was like she was trying to be nice, now it seemed to come more naturally. I wondered what had changed.

"Hey, Rosalie." I smiled back at her as I put the car in reverse, but then I stopped again. "Ok, I have no idea where I'm going. I figured that mall in Port Angeles, is that ok?"

Alice and Rosalie looked at each other, both grimacing slightly. "That mall doesn't really have any good stores. Port Angeles is kind of a touristy town." Rosalie pointed out. "There's a big mall a few miles outside of Port Angeles, though. Do you mind if we go there?"

"Sure, how far away is it though? Do you know how to get there?"

They exchanged mischievous glances, "Do you mind if I drive? We'll get there quicker." asked Rosalie, smiling innocently, her lovely topaz eyes pleading. "I promise to be careful." It was no use to argue, resistance was futile, I realized as I surrendered my keys and my seats. I went to sit in the back but Alice insisted I take shotgun as it was my car.

As Rosalie pulled out of the parking spot easily and quickly, I began to feel a little nervous. Why was I so comfortable with them? I'd only really met them today, and to be honest, I didn't really get along with people so easily. I wasn't antisocial or anything, but people usually didn't get me.

Alice seemed to be aware of my nerves. Reached over to grab some more cds to look through and smiled kindly at me. "Don't worry, Bella. This is going to be fun!"


	6. The Shopping Trip

_Ok, I hope this comes across, but in case it doesn't, here goes: In Twilight, Jasper mentioned that Bella "completed" their family, she sort of united them even more. I tried to make that a little more obvious in this story. That's why they feel some kind of connection towards her (I hope that's not too cheesy, I'm not very good at this). She is destined to be a part of their family, and on some subconscious level, they all know it._

_Also, the Rosalie in my story is just a bit nicer than the Rosalie in the books. She's more accepting and she also feels a weird connection to Bella, although at first she was jealous at all the attention Bella was getting. Sorry for rambling. On with the story!_

**Stephenie Meyer owns character, Sunybee owns plot.  
**

* * *

The drive to the mall was quick. Apparently Rosalie thought the speed limit was merely a suggestion and disregarded it completely. I didn't really mind, but once she caught me clutching my seat for dear life, she laughed jovially at me and slowed to about 80 mph. 

I called Charlie at his office to let him know where I was and that I was going to be home late. He seemed surprised when I told him who I was with, but wished me a fun time all the same.

We arrived at the mall in about 40 minutes. I left my backpack in the car and just took my wallet and cell phone with me. As we walked through the mall, people would stare at their remarkable beauty but they hardly noticed. I felt like the ugly duckling, walking along beside them.

At first, they took me to some really trendy looking shops, and suggesting different things but I don't really _do_ trendy clothes. "I don't really like attention," I reminded them. Some of these things were sure to draw some looks towards me. "I'm pretty much just looking for some jeans, sweatshirts, sweatpants, and a jacket."

Alice rolled her eyes and agreed reluctantly. But she wouldn't just let me go to the Gap to get jeans. We went into Lucky Brand Jeans and I nearly fainted at the price of one pair.

"But it's worth it, Bella," argued Rosalie, "trust me." She wouldn't take no for an answer.

"There are so _many_!" I was shocked at how many choices there were. The store was covered with piles and piles of different kinds of jeans. I was overwhelmed. "How do you know which ones are the right ones?"

Alice looked excited. "Don't worry, Bella! That's why we're here!" She quickly found 3 pairs for me to try on and forced me into a fitting room. I emerged from the dressing room with the first pair on. Alice and Rosalie both looked me up and down, deep in thought for a moment. I almost laughed at the serious looks on their faces but they ignored me.

"No," said Rosalie.

"Definitely not." said Alice. "Next please," she shut the door to the fitting room in my face. The next pair fit fine, but when I stepped out I saw that Rosalie had come out of the fitting room next to mine, wearing the exact same pair. The difference was practically hilarious. Rosalie looked like Aphrodite incarnate while I looked like… well, not godly, so let's just leave it at that.

"No," I said and turned right around to try on what I thought was the last pair, but Alice suddenly threw 3 more pairs over the door. The last three pairs fit perfectly, accenting the curves I didn't know I had and sitting comfortably on my hips. Alice and Rosalie insisted that I needed all three pairs, since they varied in hues and leg styles, so I bought them all, not even wanting to look at the final total.

I was having a lot more fun than I thought I would. I'd never been into some of the stores we visited, having been too intimidated by their prices before, but my mom had assured me that I was allowed to "go as crazy as I'd like" while I was here, trying to make up for her lack of interest in me. I wasn't used to having much money before, but since my mother had married Phil and Charlie had inherited a small fortune from his parents, my family's money troubles seemed to be over, and they used money as a substitute for satisfactory parenting skills. But I tried not to dwell on it as I charged things to the credit card my mother had given me. It was nice spending the afternoon with Alice and Rosalie, laughing at the more ridiculous things they tried to force on me.

"Alice, it's so short! I'd never wear it!" I exclaimed coming out of yet another fitting room in a deep blue turtle neck sweater dress. I had to admit it looked good on me, and the material was so soft and cozy, I couldn't stop running my fingers through it.

"Well you're supposed to wear it with leggings!" She said as though it were the most obvious thing ever.

"And it'll look really good with the boots." Rosalie put in.

"What boots?" I asked, afraid of the answer.

Rosalie grinned and held out a beautiful soft brown leather pair of boots. They were gorgeous, obviously, but one look at the heel made me roll my eyes.

"You've obviously never seen me in gym." I sighed. I ended up getting the boots anyway.

It continued that way for most of the shopping trip. They'd pick stuff out, I'd argue and sometimes I'd give in. It was a lot of fun. I looked around for a place to get regular sweat pants but I ended up getting a few pairs of super soft, trendy ones at this little boutique where I also found the most comfortable baby blue bathrobe I've ever seen.

After buying jeans, sweaters, sweats, boots, sneakers, and socks, I was exhausted. But I needed a winter jacket so they dragged me to another store. Too tired to argue with them anymore, I just let them pick stuff out. They seemed to enjoy having me be their own personal dress up doll. I ended up getting a mid-thigh length black wool coat, with the most stunningly luxurious sea-green lining on the inside and a shorter gray jacket that had a lot of zippers and looked really cool.

After loading all our bags in the trunk of my car, I drove them home, following directions from Alice. It took longer since I didn't drive as fast as Rosalie had but they didn't seem to mind. We just talked about school and them and their boys. It felt really nice not to have to pretend to be having fun as I'd been doing with Jessica and everyone else at school. Alice and Rosalie were completely comfortable in their own skin and didn't seem to hold a silent grudge against me for stealing the attention of random boys in school.

"So, honestly," I began, not wanting to bring up a sore subject that would put a damper on our pleasantly light conversation. "What was the deal with Edward? Why does he hate me?" I hoped they wouldn't notice the sadness in my voice.

They were silent for a moment. Then Alice spoke, softly.

"Bella, he doesn't hate you. Edward just had some stuff of his own to deal with. Please don't be offended."

"Yea, he can really over react to stuff," said Rosalie.

I considered that for a moment. I guess it was kind of conceited to think that he would suddenly run away because of simple little me.

"Ok, now, please don't take this the wrong way, because I've had more fun today than I have since…" I paused, thinking for a moment, "actually, I can't even remember when I had this much fun, and considering I hate shopping, that's saying something."

We all laughed at that. Then I continued, "but why did you all of the sudden decide to hang out with me? I kind of got the impression that you guys didn't really hang out with anyone other than your family."

They were quiet again. "Honestly, Bella, you're not like the other kids at the school," Alice explained after a while, "I don't know how to explain it, but it felt like we had known you somehow, even though that was impossible."

"So we thought we'd see how you responded to us, since we all felt a strange gravitation towards you." Rosalie clarified.

I was astounded. I was nothing special, of that I was sure. I had expected to feel out of place around the Cullens and all their perfection. But it was as though none of that existed once I'd begun hanging out with them. I felt strangely relaxed and more myself than I'd felt in a long time. And even though there was something very mysterious about them, I couldn't help but trust them.

"I know what you mean." I said, after a minute or so. "I feel like I've known you guys forever." I grinned, with embarrassment.

We drove in silently for a little while, listening to music. When we reached their house, (it was the most gorgeous white Victorian mansion I'd ever seen) I bid them goodnight and followed the directions Alice gave me to get home.

The cruiser was parked in the driveway when I got home and Charlie's other truck was in front. "Hello?" I called as I entered, loaded with way too many bags. "Dad?" no one answered.

I somehow made my way up to my room without tripping and dropped all of my bags off. I went around the house looking for Charlie. "Dad are you home?" I called again as I headed down the stairs.

I walked into the living room and found him asleep on the sofa, with a glass in one hand and an empty bottle of bourbon on the coffee table. There were tears in my eyes as I took the glass out of his hand gently.

He woke suddenly.

"Bella?" His voice was thick with sleep.

I couldn't speak properly. "Dad," I whispered. "Why?" I couldn't stop the tears in my eyes from falling down my face.

He sat up suddenly and put his face in his hands.

"I'm so sorry, Bella." He muttered, "You shouldn't have to see this."

"Dad, please…" I paused, "Please just get better. I don't want anything to happen to you."

We sat there for a while, not speaking. Then I whispered goodnight to Charlie and went to my room.

* * *

**In case you were wondering, Edward **_**does**_** come back into the story, and pretty soon, too :)  
**


	7. Movie Night Surprise

**I don't own any of the characters**

* * *

A strange light entered my room the next morning as I woke up. I ran to my window looking up at the sunny sky. I couldn't believe it, the sun was out! I showered quickly and threw on clothes before heading out the door.

I had thought the sun being out was a good omen, an indicator to how the day would surely go. But I was wrong. The Cullens didn't come to school. Had I driven them all away now? I spent whatever time Jessica wasn't asking me 20 questions about my lunch with the Cullens trying to figure out why I felt such a strong bond with them. And why weren't they in school?

* * *

I had arrived home from a miserable school day and flopped down on my bed when I heard someone knock on the front door. I looked out my window to see if there was a car parked in front of the house but there wasn't.

Curiously, I headed back down stairs and opened the door to see Alice standing there smiling at me.

"Hi Bella!" She beamed.

I was stunned for a second, but got over it quickly realizing how happy I was to see her. "Hey Alice!"

"We were wondering if you wanted to come over."

I looked outside, but I didn't see a car. "How'd you get here?"

She shrugged and walked past me into the house. "I ran here."

"You _ran_ here?! Are you crazy?"

"It's not that far," she insisted innocently.

"Alice, you know you could have just called me."

"I didn't have your number, silly!"

I shook my head, laughing at her expression. "Ok, let me grab my stuff."

Instead of waiting for me downstairs Alice followed me up to my room. She was looking at me, frowning. "Honestly, Bella, we shopped for ages yesterday, getting you some really great stuff and you insist on wearing that!"

"Hey!" I said defensively, "I love this shirt! They're one of my favorite bands!" I was wearing my Taking Back Sunday t-shirt I'd gotten years ago.

"It's so old! I may not have seen it when it was new but I'm sure it's not supposed to be that color."

"Ok, so maybe it's a little bit faded" I admitted. It was once black but now it had faded into a dull gray. "But its at its perfect worn-in state!"

"Bella, the letters are fading off!" She laughed, squinting, looking at the letters in mock confusion. "Who's 'Tucking Bck Undy'? I've never heard of them."

"It's got character!" I said, trying hard not to laugh but failing miserably. Alice joined in and we were both laughing hysterically after a while.

"ok, ok," I surrendered, regaining my composure, "maybe some of my stuff is a bit old, but I love it."

She walked over to my dresser drawer where a faded hoodie was sticking out. She pulled on it and I winced slightly, knowing what was coming.

"Bella," she whispered in disbelief, "what happened to this shirt?" She was analyzing the badly sewn up hole on one of the long sleeves.

Ugh, I thought. She just had to grab _that_, didn't she?

"Well, I was at my friend's house in Phoenix and it got hot, so I took it off…" my face getting redder by the second.

"And…" she urged, her mouth twitching at the corners.

"And I accidentally left it on Minnie's cage…"

"And Minnie was…" Alice's face broke out into a huge smirk.

"Her pet mouse…" I said in a small voice.

Alice suddenly burst out laughing, "a rat… ate… your shirt…" She choked out between breaths, "and… you… still… wear it?!!" She was clutching her side.

I stamped my foot in indignantly, "It was only on the _sleeve_!! And I fixed it, see!" I said indicating the jaggedly sewn together edges of the sleeve, but she only laughed harder. My face was beet red but, as Alice laughed hysterically, I couldn't help but join her.

"I'm sorry, Bella," she managed, "but that's the funniest thing I've heard in a while." Once we both stopped laughing she walked over to my closet. "when was the last time you threw stuff out?"

"Oh no you don't, missy." I warned jokingly. "I spent an entire afternoon in your fashion-mania craze yesterday and that was enough. I'm not about to do it again today. So let's go." I grabbed my keys, jammed my wallet and cell phone into my pockets and led the way to my car.

"Fine," she said following me, "but this is _so_ not over."

The inside of the Cullen's house was nothing like I expected it to be. The inside was all decorated in various shades of white and it was all open. It was immaculate and beautiful. I felt a little uneasy, like I was bound to spill something.

While Alice walked over to the huge flat screen tv in the center of one of the seating areas, to put in a dvd, the rest of the Cullen household appeared. I recognized all but two of them.

"Hello Bella," said a striking blonde man, stretching out his hand to greet me. "I'm Carlisle. This is my wife, Esme."

He gestured toward a very beautiful woman at his side, with caramel colored hair and butterscotch eyes. She smiled kindly at me as she, too, extended her hand to me.

"Its very nice to meet you both," I smiled back. "You have a very lovely home."

"Thank you, dear," said Esme. Her smile was filled with warmth and compassion.

"Hey Bella!" Emmett called out to me, "you ready for movie night?"

Emse lead me over to one of the couches. "Sure, what are we watching?"

Alice spoke, uneasily, I noticed, "Well… we usually take turns picking movies…"

"Oh, whose turn is it this time."

No one responded for a second, and I realized it had been Edward's turn. I looked down, feeling guilty. I knew that it was my fault he was gone, regardless of what they said. Something told me _I_ was the reason for his disappearance.

"Well, it was Edward's turn," Carlisle spoke gently, reading the sad look on my face, "but he's away for a little while,"

"Ok, I'll take his turn," Emmett volunteered.

"Ugh! Emmett, I simply cannot sit through 'Die Hard' again." Rosalie warned.

"For your information, I was thinking of the new one, 'Live Free or Die Hard'," Emmett grinned at her, "and you haven't even seen it yet."

Jasper spoke up, "come on, Rose, a guy throwing a car at a helicopter doesn't entice you?"

"Whatever," muttered Rosalie.

Emmett ran up to his room and was back within minutes. I was shocked at how quickly he could move, being such a big guy.

Carlisle and Esme excused themselves and left us to watch the movie. It was very interesting. I was only half paying attention because every so often Emmett would jump out of his seat and cheer as John McClane shot a car at a helicopter or something equally ridiculous. It was really funny.

Once the movie was over, we sat there talking about nothing in particular. Carlisle and Esme had come back into the living room. They asked me more about Phoenix, and Alice told Rosalie about my mouse-eaten hoodie (they all cracked up at that). I was having such a good time, I'd almost forgotten about Charlie. "Oh, I think Charlie might be starting to worry about me, I completely forgot about him."

They all stood to say goodbye to me, except Alice. She suddenly had a very vacant look in her eyes and her face was upset.

"Alice?" I asked, thinking she was just day dreaming. When I said her name, her eyes snapped back into focus. She looked worried and sad.

"Bella, I think I left my purse at your house." She exclaimed suddenly. "Do you mind if I ride back with you?"

I was taken aback by her abrupt change of mood. She looked like she was worried about something. I hadn't seen her arrive at my house with a purse earlier so I figured maybe she wanted to talk to me alone about something.

"Sure, Alice," I said. I looked around and the rest of the Cullens were all looking at Alice with concerned or wary looks on their faces. "Um, I'll see you guys later. It was nice meeting you," I said to Carlisle and Esme.

Esme came and hugged me, "you too, dear. Please come back soon."

"I will." I turned to Alice, "Are you ready to go?"

She looked at her family briefly and then at me "I'll meet you in the car in a second, I just have to get something."

"Ok," I waved goodbye to the Cullens and walked out the front door to my car. A minute or so later, Alice joined me. "What happened, Alice?"

She looked so sad. "Its nothing, Bella, really."

"Why do you look so sad? Did something happen?"

She wiped the sad look off her face and gave me an unconvincing smile. "Nothing happened, I just needed to get my purse."

Not wanting to push her, I dropped the subject. When we arrived at my house I saw that the police cruiser was parked out front but all the lights were off.

"Dad?" I called as I walked in, Alice behind me. "Dad, it's me. Are you home?"

I walked through the living room. There was no one there, but I noticed that there was one empty bottle of bourbon lying on its side on the coffee table. Oh no, I thought as a feeling of dread spread through me.

I ran upstairs to his room, but he wasn't there either. I walked into the bathroom and screamed.

"Dad!" I rushed over to him. He was on the floor, sort of, with half of him draped over the bathtub, clearly passed out. In his bloody hand was a smashed glass. His face was very pale.

I tried to wake him up, but he wouldn't.

"I've called an ambulance," Alice said from the doorway. She sounded strange, as though she was holding her breath. "And Carlisle. He'll be here before the ambulance gets here."

"Carlisle?" I choked out through sobs. I was kneeling next to my father, afraid to move him and cause more damage.

"He's a doctor at the hospital."

Carlisle arrived within minutes, attending to Charlie as Alice moved me gently out of the room. The ambulance arrived shortly after, taking him away. Carlisle went with them leaving Alice with me. I followed them downstairs watching them load an unconscious Charlie into the back of the ambulance. After they drove away, my crying went from soft, scared sobs to suddenly violent shrieks. I fell on the ground and cried, letting the misery take over.


	8. After The Movie

**Still don't own the characters... **

* * *

**Rosalie's POV**

"Oh, I think Charlie might be starting to worry about me, I completely forgot about him." Bella said, suddenly looking at her watch. We had just finished watching another 'Die Hard' movie. I don't care whose turn it is to pick the movie next time, I'm not sitting through another action flick. This was the third one in a row!

But suddenly I was aware of Alice's expression and I froze. She was having a vision, of that I was sure, but the look on her face told me it wasn't a good one.

Bella got her attention and Alice made a lame excuse to go with her, casting us a look that said '_I'll explain in a second.'_ When Bella went out to her car to wait for Alice she turned to us.

"Charlie just passed out in the bathroom. From the looks of it he's hit his head pretty hard and probably has a concussion." Esme gasped. I suddenly felt awful for Bella.

"She shouldn't have to find him like that on her own." I whispered.

"I know," said Alice. "That's why I'm going with her." She turned to Carlisle. "Can you meet us there?"

Carlisle nodded gravely. "I'll make sure to arrive just a few minutes after you do."

Alice nodded and left.

* * *

**Alice's POV**

I drove Carlisle's car back to our house after Bella fell asleep.

When I arrived, Emmett, Esme, Rosalie and Jasper were waiting in the living room.

"How is he?" asked Jasper as he came over to hug me.

"He'll be ok." I sighed as I wrapped my arms around his neck and let him pull me onto him as he sat back down. "But his alcoholism has gone far enough. I think he's going to need time in a rehab center."

"How is _she_?" Esme asked, concerned.

"She broke down after they took him away. She wanted to go to the hospital but I convinced her to wait until morning. It wouldn't do her any good to wait there until he woke up."

I looked up and saw that Emmett had his arm around Rosalie, both of their faces somber and disbelieving.

"What do we do?" I asked. "Should we ask her to stay with us for a while?"

No one spoke for a minute.

"I'd hate to think of what being alone in that house would do for her. Where's her mother?" Esme asked.

I shrugged. "We tried to call her but she wouldn't answer her phone."

Emmett sighed, loudly. "Look, I like Bella a lot, but we I don't know how wise it would be to invite her to stay here. I mean, we're vampires!"

"And she's so accident prone," Jasper said, continuing Emmett's thoughts. "It's not safe for her to stay here for an extended period of time… not yet. And I'm sure Edward isn't going to be gone for long. Even if he does control himself around her, what if she got a paper cut or something. The result could be disastrous."

I knew that he was thinking of himself also. He was fairly new to the "vegetarian" lifestyle. And Bella did have a very appetizing scent. If her blood was spilled here for any reason… I shuddered, not wanting to finish the thought.

"Speaking of Edward," said Rosalie, "what's he going to think when he comes back and sees that we all want to hang out with Bella?"

It took every ounce of self control I had not to smile. "That won't be a problem, trust me." I'd had a vision recently that had made me sure of that.

"Do you know how Bella is going to hold up while dealing with Charlie's problem?" asked Esme.

"No," I said. "Its like her mind is just not dealing with it right now."

Having seen Bella break down earlier, I knew things weren't going to be good for her for a while. Despite the fact that I'd only known her for a couple of days, I felt a strong bond with her, as though she was a part of this family that had been missing. I knew the rest of my family felt the same way. We weren't going to let her fall apart. And when Edward arrived he would do his part.

* * *

**I'm not very good at this! ****Sorry if it sucks!**


	9. Renovations

_This chapter I kind of felt like I needed to get it out of the way before I got to some good stuff. So bear with me, it does get better._

**Don't own twilight, please don't sue me**

* * *

I had missed school early that week, and returned on Wednesday, after Charlie had left for rehab. I looked for any excuse not to be in the house. No one at school knew about what had happened with Charlie, thankfully, so I didn't have to deal with pitying looks from anyone. People had accepted the cover story that he had taken time off and would be away for a while without asking too many questions. 

Alice and Rosalie came to my house with me after school. I saw a red BMW convertible parked in front of my house next to Charlie's truck (the cruiser that he normally drove was being used by the deputy).

Esme was leaning against my front door with a few grocery bags in her hands. She smiled radiantly as we stepped out of my car, putting down the bags and giving me a big hug.

"How are you, dear?" she asked.

"I'm ok," I replied, trying not to look as upset as I'd been looking over the past few days.

I led the way into the house. "what's all this?" I asked her curiously.

"Alice said you hadn't been eating much so I brought some things over."

I was touched. I didn't know why this perfect family had taken such a liking to me, but I was grateful for it and I felt the same way about them.

I helped bring the bags into the kitchen. Esme looked at the living room next to it and sighed. I blushed, embarassingly. I hadn't really found the motivation to clean up after Charlie left. All the old bottles were still lying around. The place was a mess, now that I looked at it. I had barely noticed before.

"Looks like we've got some work to do," said Esme, softly.

"Oh, don't worry about it, Esme," I said, blushing further. I didn't want her to have to come and clean up my house also.

"Nonsense, Bella, its no trouble." She walked around, with one arm crossed and one hand on her chin, deep in thought. "hmmm…" she would mutter every so often. I saw that she was taking in the look of the old furniture, the stains on the carpet, the drab paint job on the walls.

The house very nice, Charlie's father had built it ages ago. It was a decent sized stone cottage that had been renovated on my grandmother's orders a few times before she'd become too old to care anymore. Charlie had moved all his old things into this house, giving away their old furniture. But his wasn't much better to be honest.

Esme, suddenly looking determined and excited, turned to her daughters. "Ok, girls, I want you to take Bella to a furniture store. We'll need new living room furniture, and maybe a new tv."

Alice looked excited, but Esme spoke again, "Alice, nothing too crazy or girly! This is Charlie's house too."

"Wait!" I cut in, anxiously, "its really ok, I don't need new furniture, I'll clean up soon."

But Rosalie spoke this time. "Bella, no offense but this place is depressing! You can't live like this, we won't let you."

"but-" I began before Alice cut me off.

"Bella, _please_ don't be difficult about this, ok?! I promise it'll be fun."

I knew it would do me no good to argue. So I surrendered. We went to a furniture store not too far from Port Angeles. To my pleasant surprise, it was a lot of fun. There were too many choices so we came up with a system; we would grade the sofas on looks, comfort and whether or not the fabric was fire-resistant (they didn't want to take any chances with my luck.)

In the end, we picked out a cozy yet stylish gray sofa and matching love seat as well as a beautiful wooden coffee table and matching side tables. Then we got a few more random items and made sure they would be delivered to my house tomorrow.

When we got back to my house and walked into the living room, I felt my jaw drop. Was this the same house? Esme had removed all of the furniture, taken out the carpet to reveal the gorgeous hard wood floors underneath and painted the room a very light, yet warm beige color set off with sprakling white moldings everywhere.

"How on earth did she get this all done in 3 hours?!!" I exclaimed.

Rosalie shrugged. "I'm sure the boys helped."

"Ok, Bella, we'll see you tomorrow." Said Alice, giving me a hug.

"Should I drive you guys home?" I asked. I hadn't seen a car outside.

"No, need, we can run." She answered.

"Are you crazy!!"

"It's really not that far. Plus, we need the exercise," she added, clearly lying.

"For what, I've never seen you eat!!!" This was insane. Sometimes they were just so _bizarre_! "Here," I said giving them my car keys, "Take my car, you can pick me up in the morning."

Rosalie sighed and rolled her eyes. "Fine. See you tomorrow."

* * *

**Following Day**

**Text Message From:** Alice Cell

Hey Bella, ur coming 2 our house 2nite. Esme said she needed some more time 2 do some stuff at ur house and she didn't want u 2 see it 'til it was done

**Reply Text Message From: **Bella Cell

Oh Geez! U guys, I'm fine!

**Reply Text Message From: **Alice Cell

No one said u werent

**Reply Text Message From**: Bella Cell

U could have waited 2 tell me this at lunch, u know

**Reply Text Message From: **Alice Cell

But Im so bored now! Stupid history class!

**Reply Text Message From:** Bella Cell

Cant be any worse than this spanish class. Why on earth would I ever need 2 know how 2 ask Pepito if he finished his rice in spanish? That's his own damn business!

* * *


	10. Back

**I don't own anything, sadly, **

* * *

**  
**

Alice informed me that had already packed me an overnight bag and was taking me to her house against my will.

"We'll have so much fun, Bella! We can watch movies and so make overs!"

"No!" I was putting my foot down. "No make overs! That's a deal breaker right there!"

When we finally arrived at the Cullens, Carlisle and Esme weren't there. Carlisle was probably working at the hospital and Esme, I'm sure, was at my house. I felt bad having her do these nice things for me. I wasn't sure I deserved it. But I appreciated their kindness none the less.

Esme came home later that evening, and she wouldn't give me any details as to what she was doing in the house. She joined us when we watched 'Blue Crush".

"Ew, didn't they like _just_ meet? And she's sleeping with him already?" Alice giggled at the screen, "that must've been one hell of a surfing lesson."

The Cullens had ordered a ton of food, but most of it was eaten by me. A few of them had taken random bites and then said they were full, or else had just stopped eating. It was really weird.

"She's crazy!" Rosalie exclaimed, angry at the girl in the movie. "She just ruined a designer gown!" The main character had just walked into the ocean in a pretty black gown and was being really dramatic. I laughed at Rosalie's exasperation.

After the movie I was exhausted. Alice led me up 2 flights of stairs to the third floor. At the far end there were 2 doors on opposite ends of the wall. She led me through the door on the left to the guest room.

It was beautiful and unbelievably cozy looking. The walls were painted a cool blue color with white trimmings. There was a queen sized bed in the center with adorable white night tables on either side, one with flowers and one with a lamp and a few books in it. There was also a door to a private bathroom on the left.

"Your clothes and stuff are in that wardrobe," Alice said pointing to the beautiful carved wooden wardrobe on the right side of the room. "There are toiletries and towels and stuff in the bathroom already and your bathrobe is in there also."

"Thanks so much Alice," I said.

"No problem. Goodnight Bella." She shut the door behind her.

I went to the bathroom to shower first. I stepped into the huge white shower and let the hot water massage my back. It felt so good to be here, away from my troubles, away from Renee's neglection. Here, in their home, I felt safe.

After I'd washed my hair, I couldn't justify wasting their hot water any longer. But I wasn't tired so I stepped out of the shower and dried my hair until it was perfectly straight. Putting on my bathrobe, I headed out of the bathroom and to the wardrobe where Alice had stored my clothes. I noticed that she had brought none of my favorite old items, only new ones we had purchased together. I guess my pajamas weren't up to her standards either because there was a Victoria's secret bag with a note on it.

_You can sleep in this._

To my surprise, it was just a pair of really nice, soft white pajama pants and a hot pink tank top. There was a small zip-up hoodie that matched the pants and pink slippers.

I slipped into my prearranged outfit and headed to bed, closing my eyes and trying not to let my thoughts ruin my sleep.

I was woken up by the sounds of angry yells. I sat up, trying to figure out what was going on. It was still night time, or very early morning. I listened to try to figure out what was going on.

"Edward, just listen to me," I stiffened as I heard Alice say his name. "She's been through a lot. And we all really like her."

"You need to calm down." I heard Jasper say, "She's sleeping now but if you keep screaming you're going to wake her up. You can handle this."

Then the low, musical voice spoke, calmer now, "How did this happen?"

"I don't really know," Alice began, "We felt something towards her. I can't really explain it, but it's like we connected to her somehow…" she paused for a while. "Are you going to be ok?"

"Sure." He answered. I didn't hear anything else for a little while, but I listened closely. I couldn't hear anyone else.

I knew they were talking about me, any idiot could've figured that one out. And now I knew for sure that he had a problem with me. So it _was_ my fault that he left. I had driven him from his school, his house and his family. I felt horribly guilty.

But then it struck me. _How_ did I drive him away? I hadn't even spoken to him?! We'd hardly interacted, unless you count the time in biology when he looked at me like he was about to kill me. The more I thought about it, the angrier I became.

I heard someone come upstairs. I froze and stayed as still as I could, my heart pounding in my chest. But whoever it was stopped as they neared my door. I heard them enter the room across from mine, then slam the door. A few minutes later the door open and shut once more as the person left that room.

I couldn't hear anymore noises downstairs for a while, but I wasn't tired anymore and decided to go outside for fresh air. I was sure everyone was sleeping at this hour so I had to be careful not to disturb them. I put on the matching hoodie Alice had supplied me as well as my own jacket, threw on my sneakers and quietly headed down the stairs. I stepped out the front door onto their porch and walked around to the side of the house. Everything was dark. The house was surrounded by the forest. I leaned back against the house, letting the cold air into my lungs and trying to think clearly.

But I heard a noise and quickly straightened up.

Edward Cullen was standing just a few feet away from me.

"Hello Bella." He said, his voice light yet guarded, as though trying hard to be nice to me.

"Hi," I said softly. He stepped closer and the light from one of the windows lit up his face. He was just as lovely as I remembered. Lovelier, even. His eyes were lighter now, I noticed. They were light butterscotch like his family's, not the hostile black they had been on my last encounter with him.

The thought of that day made me angry again.

"So you're back?" I said, trying to keep my cool.

"Yes." His voice was like music. He looked away from me.

"Listen, Edward," I began, hardheartedly, "I'll go."

He snapped his eyes back up to meet mine. "Excuse me?" He asked as thought my statement had caught him off guard.

I crossed my arms over my chest, "no one should have to feel uncomfortable in their own home. Just give me a minute and I'll be out of your hair." I turned around, ready to head upstairs to collect my keys. I'd just ask Alice to bring me my stuff later; I didn't want to be here any longer.

"Bella," I turned back around to face him, unwillingly. "Please don't leave on my behalf. I apologize if I've upset you in some way." He was looking at me with his penetrating eyes.

Once I was able to breathe again, I looked away, trying to organize my thoughts. "Upset _me_?" I asked incredulously, "I was under the impression that I was the one who upset _you_."

He looked at me, confused.

"I need to ask you one thing though, Edward." If I didn't ask this I would go crazy wondering the answer, "What the hell did I do to you?"

His face looked shocked and upset for a minute. "Excuse _me_?"

"I don't understand what I did to offend you." I clarified. "It must've been something terrible because you looked like you wanted to kill me that day in biology." He looked away again, flustered. Aha! I thought to myself, he can't deny it now. "And then you skip town and I _know_ it had to do with me. So please, Edward, just tell me what it was that I did to you."

He didn't answer for a moment, and after a while I got the impression that he wasn't going to so I groaned and turned around, ready to leave this house.

"Wait." He spoke finally. I turned back to him, glaring. "I don't hate you." This, at least, sounded sincere, "my leaving had nothing to do with you. I have nothing against you, Bella. I never did." His words came so swiftly, I didn't know whether they were true or not. "Please don't leave. Its dark out and the roads are getting icy. You should go back to bed."

I looked at him for a minute or so, trying to read the truth on his face. He seemed to be concentrating hard on my face too, a frustrated look in his eyes. "Fine, goodnight." I turned and headed straight up to the guest room again. But I couldn't sleep. I spent the rest of the night trying to decipher the perplexing words and actions of Edward Cullen.

* * *

**Sorry if this chapter sucks, everyone, I'm not in my game today. **


	11. Feelings

The next day, I was too sleepy to head to school, but Alice wouldn't let me ditch because my house wasn't ready. I barely functioned all day. I only half listened to Jessica's latest news (she was planning on asking Mike to the upcoming dance) and had to be nudge twice in my spanish class when the teacher had addressed me.

Edward had come back to school today and as I normally sat with the Cullens, I was nervous. By the time I'd entered the lunch room with Angela and Jessica, the Cullens were already seated. I skipped the lunch line, not having much energy to eat, and sat next to Alice.

"Hello sleepy beauty," She teased.

"Oh ha ha," I said humorlessly.

"Not hungry today?" Emmett asked, smiling.

"I could ask you the same thing." I replied. He laughed at that. Edward smirked too, I noticed. His eyes met mine briefly, and then looked away. It continued like that for the rest of the lunch period.

Biology was hard to keep track of. The teacher was babbling about something I couldn't keep track of. I was extremely aware of Edward's presence next to mine. We were strangers, forced to coexist. I knew he still didn't like me and he knew that I knew something was up. It was very uncomfortable. So I decided to do something about it. I wrote him a note.

'So we obviously got off on the wrong foot. Can we start over?'

'_I agree. I think that's a good idea. Hello, I'm Edward Cullen.'_

I tried to hide my smile.

'Hello, Edward, I'm Isabella Swan, but you can call me Bella.'

'_What's wrong with 'Isabella'?'_

'It's too formal. Makes me sound old and graceful. Those are two things I'm definitely NOT'

He grinned at that. The teacher was coming around and he quickly slipped the note away. We spent the rest of the period taking notes. Well, _he_ took notes, I dozed off. I didn't realize the class had ended until he shook my shoulder gently.

"Bella?" He was grinning at me.

"Huh! What?" I awoke with a start.

"It's time for your next class."

I groaned. Stupid gym class.

The end of the day finally came and Alice insisted on driving, arguing that I'd probably fall asleep behind the wheel and end up in the hospital. I didn't have the energy to argue. She came home with me and the rest of the Cullens went home in the silver Volvo. When we arrived at my house, the red BMW was parked there again.

Esme came outside to greet me. She looked so excited. As she led me through the door I gasped. Everything was different, it was beautiful. The walls in the hallway had been painted the same color as the living room. The furniture we had bought had been put in place and there was a new television in front of it. The fireplace we had never used before had a roaring fire in it now and there were two squashy chairs pulled up in front of it. The kitchen had been reorganized, retiled and repainted also. It looked so lovely and cozy. It was perfect.

I was speechless, "Oh, Esme, it looks so awesome!" I had tears in my eyes. "I don't know how to thank you."

She hugged me tightly, "Don't worry about it, dear, it was my pleasure."

She and Alice soon left and I was alone at home again. This time it wasn't so depressing. I tried to do my homework but failed miserably, being too tired. I shook off my jeans and undid my ponytail as I threw myself onto my bed and drifted off to sleep.

I dreamt about Edward Cullen that night.

* * *

**Edward POV**

When I'd gotten back to my house in Forks, I smelled it again. Her scent. It was strong and intoxicating.

"What is she doing here?" I growled at Alice and Jasper who were downstairs. I didn't hear anyone else in the house, except for Bella Swan and her heart beat.

"Edward please calm down so we can explain." Alice played back the last two weeks worth of events in her head for me to see. Some things I didn't understand, such as my family willing to interact with a human, despite the dangers. And her being here now.

"How did this happen?" I asked, trying to control my anger.

"I don't really know," Alice began, "We felt something towards her. I can't really explain it, but it's like we connected to her somehow…" she paused for a while. "Are you going to be ok?"

"Sure." I answered. I headed up to my room and stopped dead in my tracks. She was in the guest bedroom; I could hear her heart beating loudly. After dropping my stuff off in my room, I went outside again, needing fresh air. It wasn't long before she came outside.

"Hello Bella." I said, trying hard not to scare her; she really hadn't done anything wrong.

"Hi," she responded quietly. I stepped closer to her, trying to be more casual. She seemed upset.

"So you're back?" She said coolly.

"Yes."

"Listen, Edward," she began, sighing, "I'll go."

I hadn't expected that. What was she talking about? Go where? "Excuse me?"

She crossed her arms over her chest, "no one should have to feel uncomfortable in their own home. Just give me a minute and I'll be out of your hair." she turned around.

"Bella," She turned back around to face me, unwillingly. "Please don't leave on my behalf. I apologize if I've upset you in some way." I felt bad for upsetting her. Seeing her face angry with even just a hint of sadness bothered me more than it should.

She glared at me now, "Upset _me_? I was under the impression that I was the one who upset _you_."

I was confused. What could she have consciously done to offend me?

"I need to ask you one thing though, Edward." She paused, steadying her voice, "What the hell did I do to you?"

"_Excuse_ me?"

"I don't understand what I did to offend you." she clarified. "It must've been something terrible because you looked like you wanted to kill me that day in biology."

_If you only knew_, I thought to myself.

"And then you skip town and I _know_ it had to do with me. So please, Edward, just tell me what it was that I did to you." I could tell her anger was beginning to spill over.

I was too shocked to answer. She turned back, exasperated and ready to storm back into the house.

"Wait." I finally managed. She turned back to me, glaring. "I don't hate you. My leaving had nothing to do with you. I have nothing against you, Bella. I never did." It wasn't the complete truth, but close enough. "Please don't leave. Its dark out and the roads are getting icy. You should go back to bed."

She muttered, "fine," and headed back upstairs. When she was gone, I went over our conversation in my head a few hundred times. Alice was right, there was something special about her. Some connection I felt towards her… but it was also something more than that. It didn't help that I couldn't seem to read her thoughts.

As the morning sun came up I decided that I had to fight the craving. It was easier since I'd fed recently. So that's what I'd have to do, hunt much more often. It was either that or stay away from Bella Swan. That thought sent an eerie shiver down my spine. For some inexplicable reason, I knew that I didn't want to be away from her. Not now. Maybe not ever.

* * *

**Ok, so I really kind of hate this chapter, it didn't come out like I wanted it to… sorry if it's disappointing. Anywho, any constructive criticism would definitely help me out. I'm getting a lot of hits and alerts but hardly any reviews… ******** please review! It makes me smile… like this ******


	12. What Are You

I woke up early Saturday morning after a night of dreamless sleep. I sat in bed for a while, wondering what I'd do today. I thought about calling up Alice to see if she wanted to go out or something, but decided against it seeing as Edward had just come back and their family would probably want to spend some time alone together. I took a long, hot shower, straightened my hair and brushed my teeth, purposefully delaying myself since I had nothing but time today. Figuring I didn't need to leave the house today, I left my plushy baby blue bathrobe on and went downstairs to make myself breakfast.

By noon, I'd finished breakfast, done some homework and was now reading a book on the comfy new couch with a blanket over me, still in my bathrobe.

I heard my cell phone ring and ran upstairs to get it. It was Rosalie.

"Hey Rose," I said as I flipped my phone open.

"Bella, we're bored. We figured shopping or something. Are you in?" She said, getting straight to the point.

"Ugh! Not shopping, please. I just can't do it anymore."

She laughed at that. "I simply cannot understand your detestation of shopping. I mean, you are a girl, right?"

"I don't think a love for shopping is required girls. But whatever, I'm bored too. Do you want me to come over or-?"

She cut me off. "No need, we're just pulling up at your house. Open up."

I looked out the window in my room and sure enough, there was a very shiny red BMW convertible with the top up pulling up behind my car. I ran downstairs to open the door for them. Rosalie and Alice were already standing at my door.

Alice laughed at me, "where you planning on wearing _that_ to go out? You might be a little cold." I blushed furiously red when I realized I still had my bathrobe on. I let them in and went upstairs to change.

I was grabbing a t-shirt out of my drawer when they followed me into my room. "Don't even think about it Bella."

"Bella, we're picking out your outfit today," said Rosalie as she went through my closet. "Oh no," she said looking at a very large gray sweatshirt. "Please tell me this is Charlie's"

I rolled my eyes at her. "Hey, that happens to be very comfortable!"

She made a very impatient noise and continued to rummage through my clothes finally selecting a very pretty deep blue scoop neck knitted sweater and some jeans. She handed me the items and Alice gave me a white tank top to put under it and I went to the bathroom to change. When I came out, they had a large pile of clothes in the corner of my room.

"Hey!" I exclaimed as they went through my things and threw more things in the corner.

"Bella, it's for your own good. Trust us," said Alice.

"I don't think so! I _love_ some of this stuff." I said going over and grabbing some of the stuff off the ground. "Ok," I picked up an old purple sweater that was pilled beyond recognition. "This can go. But I'll go through the rest later."

I was about to grab my sneakers when Alice grabbed them away. "Wear these instead," she was holding out a pair of chic black boots that she'd forced me to buy before. Since they didn't have a heel, just black, rubber sole, I agreed. But they wouldn't fit under my jeans…

"_Over_ the jeans, Bella!" Rosalie exclaimed as shook she her head in disbelief.

"Why the sudden interest in dressing me up?" I asked, suspiciously.

They looked at each other for a split second with raised eyebrows, trying not to smirk, but then turned towards me with overly-innocent looks on their faces.

"No reason," said Alice. "We're just sick of your old stuff. And honestly, Bella, after all the work we went through to get you decent stuff you insist on wearing _rags_!"

"The boys are joining us for a movie, by the way, hope you don't mind," Rosalie said as we headed out the door.

I tripped on the last step as she said this. "_All_ the boys?"

"Yep," Alice looked at me, "something wrong?" She was hiding a smile.

"No," I said, an octave higher than I normally spoke. I wasn't too sure about being around Edward. But what happened next distracted me from all thoughts. The cold wind suddenly blew the clouds out of the way of the sun for a brief moment. The moment the rays touched Alice and Rosalie's faces, it was like there were two diamonds standing in front of me, beautifully sparkling, literally _sparkling_, in the sun. I gasped loudly.

We all froze, me from shock, them from something else. I couldn't keep my eyes off of them. I couldn't even _blink_! It was incredible. It was as though their skin was made from thousands of tiny diamonds that glittered brightly in the sunlight. I could barely see their perfect features anymore, their faces were so bright. Angelic radiance surrounded them.

I blinked a few times, trying to figure out if I was dreaming. I could feel my face contorted in shock still but I couldn't move it. This was impossible. It was incredible! Realization hit me as I realized it wasn't human!

"Bella," Alice whispered softly, stepping towards me slowly, but I couldn't move. I was frozen where I stood, hypnotized and paralyzed by what my eyes had seen. "Bella, please don't be afraid."

After about a minute or so, the sun finally settled back behind the clouds and their skin returned to its normal pale form, no longer shimmering. Alice had paused again, looking at me cautiously. They were both looking at me with strange expressions, apprehensive and wary.

Finally I found my voice, "What… what… how…" I couldn't find the words, "what was that?" My voice came out in a whispered, and I knew then that a part of me was anxious, carefully realizing a truth that I'd ignored all along. And then I fainted.


	13. The Truth

There were voices… somewhere in the dark distance there were voices.

"It was dangerous to have become so close," I heard a man say. It sounded like Jasper.

"But we couldn't _not_ get close to her," said Alice's voice. She sounded so sad. It troubled me, Alice shouldn't sound sad, she was always so upbeat and cheerful. It didn't fit. I wanted to ask her what was wrong but my muscled felt heavy and I couldn't move my lips just yet.

"She's worried about something," said Jasper's voice again.

I felt cold hands touch my arm gently. "Bella, are you awake?" It was Rosalie's voice that came to me this time. The feeling slowly came back into my body and I was able to open my eyes. I was in my living room, so where the rest of the Cullens.

"Yea," I sat up slowly, "what happened? What's going on?"

"You don't remember?" Rosalie asked, she stood before me, holding out a glass of water.

Then it all came back to me. The glittery affect the sun had on their faces before. I looked around at the rest of the Cullens standing around my living room, they had serious looks on their faces and were staring at me, clearly concerned.

"Yea, I think I remember. Did I pass out?" I asked stupidly.

"Obviously," said Emmett, sounding slightly amused.

Then there was an awkward silence. "So is someone going to explain?" I asked timidly. I didn't want to upset them anymore than they already were, "what was that before?" I had to form my question carefully, not wanting to ask the real question in my mind, (_what are you_).

Carlisle spoke first. "Bella what you saw earlier with Alice and Rosalie…" he paused and looked at Jasper, who nodded to him. I was confused at the interaction.

Esme came over and sat next to me. She placed her cold hands over mine, "I suppose theres no easy way to tell you this, Bella. We're vampires."

The word brought with it an eerie silence in the room. There was no more noise, no talking, not even breathing. I looked around to see if they were being serious, apparently they were. But that was impossible, vampires? "What?" I asked, confused.

"Vampires, Bella," said Alice, her eyes looked so sad. Why? Why was she so sad? "We're not exactly human."

I didn't know how to respond at first. They all looked so grim, standing there staring at me. I realized that this was the truth. That the microscopic part of me that had warned me against them the first time I had interacted with them had been right… somewhat. But I couldn't believe it. Where they going to kill me? I was scared for a moment before realizing that if they'd wanted me dead, they could've killed me a long time ago.

But what about the other part of me, the larger part of me that felt so connected to them? I knew that wasn't a lie, I'd hardly felt that way with anyone before. And the more I thought about it, the more I realized that it didn't matter to me what they were, they had been so kind to me, they couldn't possibly be evil.

"Bella," Alice's voice snapped my mind back into focus. "Did you hear me before?"

"Yes." I said quietly. I seemed to only be capable of delivering one syllable words. They didn't speak again for a few minutes.

"Please tell us what you're thinking," Alice spoke again, her eyes so heartbreakingly sad.

"Sorry," I said, blushing, "I'm just a little shocked."

"That's understandable," Esme said, her eyes looking at me with worry.

"Please don't be afraid, Bella, we won't hurt you." Carlisle's voice was very gentle.

"I'm not actually. I'm just kind of… curious…" I felt silly. Here I was with this family of perfect people telling me they were vampires. Maybe this was a dream. Nah, I thought to myself, it felt too real to be a dream. There were so many questions bouncing around in my brain, I couldn't stop one from blurting out, "does this mean you guys can't have garlic?"

They laughed at that, Emmett laughing louder than the rest. I blushed furiously, extremely embarrassed at asking such an assinine question.

"No," Carlisle chuckled softly, "We don't generally eat human food."

"oh," I said. Then it hit me; they drank blood. The comprehension must've been easy to read on my face because Carlisle instantly spoke again.

"We don't drink human blood, Bella. We choose not to. We like to think of ourselves as 'vegetarians'."

I thought about that for a minute, "so the thing with the sun earlier…?"

"The transformation from human to vampire changes the body, we become harder, more durable. Our skin changes also and thus produces the affect you saw with your own eyes."

After another awkward silence, Esme spoke, "Bella, you can understand why we would need you to keep this to yourself…"

I focused again on the situation, not letting my mind wander away with questions and focused on Esme. "Of course, I would never tell anyone. I promise."

They all looked at me skeptically. Edward and Carlisle looked at Jasper questioningly. Jasper nodded once and they all looked back at me.

"How come you're not afraid?" Jasper asked me.

"I don't know," I shrugged, "I think I always knew there was something a little strange," I smiled apologetically for the lack of a better term, "but I actually always felt kind of safe with you guys. I don't know how to explain it, it's some kind of weird connection I felt towards you." I was blushing furiously at this point. I must sound so stupid.

Esme put her arm around me and gave me a hug, "we actually feel the same way about you."

"so…" began Alice, "do you like, not want to hang out with us anymore?" Is _that_ why she looked so sad? "Because we could understand why you wouldn't, it _is_ dangerous…"

"Dangerous?... I thought you didn't drink human blood?" I asked curiously.

"Well, we don't _want_ to be monsters, but that doesn't mean it doesn't appeal to us," Edward spoke for the first time. His voice was guarded, as though he was trying not to be angry.

"Well, I've been hanging out with you until now, and I don't see why things have to change just because I know now. You guys have been so nice to me, my opinion of you won't change just because your diet is different than mine" Emmett laughed boisterously, Rosalie and Alice giggled in disbelief, Esme beamed at me and Carlisle and Jasper smirked. Edward looked at me incredulously. "I mean, I could undertand if you don't want me around much anymore."

Alice jumped up and hugged me tightly, "Oh Bella, that's sooo nice of you!! Of course we still want you around!"

The tension in the room was gone and we sat around my living room chatting for a while after that. I would ask random questions, and they would answer. Emmett had laughed at my indifference to their news, saying he knew all along that I was mental. I guess I should've been scared, sitting in a room with seven vampires, but it had just the opposite affect. I felt safe with them, and they didn't seem to mind that I wasn't like them… except Edward.

Edward had been incredibly quiet the entire time. He would look at me with an unreadable expression, his face troubled. Maybe he wasn't ok with his family associating with me. There was something else about Edward Cullen, he always seemed looked frustrated when he looked at me.

Eventually, Carlisle and Esme left, and the rest of us popped a movie into the new dvd player. I didn't have much to choose from so we ended up watching Resident Evil, which I don't remember ever buying but whatever.

After the movie, they left, Alice, Rosalie and Emmett giving me hugs, Emmett practically crushing me in a big bear hug.


	14. Dances and Pigs

_Ok, so this chapter has some stuff in it that I remembered from my own biology class in high school, so if it seems pointless, sorry. I couldn't help to add it in. Also I was really tired when I wrote this so I'm not sure if it'll be any good. But I hope you enjoy it anyway!  
_

**I don't own Twilight or any of the characters**

* * *

The next few days passed without much excitement. That is until Thursday. I noticed that Jessica wasn't her usually chatty self that morning, but I didn't think much of it, maybe she was just having a bad day.

"Are you really going to Seattle next Saturday? The day of the dance?" she whispered to me during spanish.

"Yep." I replied simply. "Why?"

"No reason," she muttered, not meeting my eyes. Unfortunately her reason became clear later on in the day. On my way to the cafeteria Eric, a geeky looking guy from a few of my classes, comes up to me with an uncomfortable look on his face.

"Hey Bella," he began, "would you go to the dance with me next Saturday?"

"Oh!" I was caught off guard, "sorry Eric, but I'm going to be in Seattle on Saturday."

"Oh," He looked so _sad_! "It's ok. See you later Bella."

Overridden with guilt, I walked to the cafeteria, ignoring the lunch line and sitting right next to Alice.

"Ugh! What is it with boys in this school?" I groaned.

"So you've been asked to the dance, huh?" Alice laughed at me. Of course she would know. Alice explained to me how some vampires have 'special abilities'. Hers are visions, Jasper can control people's emotions or something like that and Edward… actually, Edward is supposed to be able to read people's minds but he said it doesn't work on me. Not that I talk to him much, he only speaks to me when he has to. It makes me sad that he doesn't talk to me much, because as much as I'd hate to admit it, there's something special about Edward.

"yes, it sucks. I felt horrible letting him down like that. You should've seen his face."

"I did," She giggled.

I caught Edward looking at me, he was smiling too, obviously amused by my humiliation. I blushed and looked away.

"So you're going to Seattle on Saturday?" Edward asked me on the way to biology. I was shocked that he had initiated a conversation.

"Yea, I need to stock up on new books anyway, and that gives me a perfect excuse to get out of the dance."

"hmmm…" was all he said. I swear, sometimes I wish he would just say what he's thinking instead of having me hang on every word.

As we took our seats, I noticed that Mike Newton was looking right at me, walking my way. Uh oh, I thought. I looked briefly at Edward to see that his perfect face was pulled into a grin, his eyes were alight with wicked amusement. He knew exactly what was coming, as he could probably read Mike's thoughts, and he was enjoying my misery. I shot him a quick glare before Mike arrived at our table.

"Hey Bella," he looked nervous. "So, I'm sure you heard that Jessica asked me to the dance."

"Hey, Mike. Yes I did hear that. You guys'll have a great time together." I fumbled with my pen, too guilty to look at his face.

"Actually I was wondering if you wanted to go with me..." he blushed slightly, looking hopeful.

"I'm sorry Mike, but I'll be in Seattle on Saturday. But you'll have fun with Jessica."

He looked so defeated. _I'm a horrible person_, I thought. "Ok," he said, "no big deal." And he headed back to his seat.

I sighed heavily and rested my forehead on the black table top.

That's when I heard Edward's low chuckle. I glared at him furiously.

"I'm so glad you're enjoying my humiliation," I said bitterly.

He stopped grinning but his eyes were still amused. "I'm sorry."

"Whatever," I turned away from him. That's when the teacher entered the room pulling a cart full of supplies. He went around to each table and gave them a scalpel, tongs and a tray with a fetal pig. It was the most sickening sight I'd ever seen.

"Today, you will be working with your partner to dissect and identify 5 key organs within the fetal pig. You have thirty minutes. You may begin" said Mr. Banner.

Great, I thought as we put on out latex gloves.

"Shall we?" Edward gestured for me to begin.

"You go," I insisted, disgusted at the dead carcass sitting in front of me.

He smirked at my obvious revulsion and picked up the scalpel, making an incision in the belly of the animal.

"Ok, so there's the heart," he pointed. "Grab it."

"Me?!"

"Yes, _partner_," he said mockingly, "you."

I uneasily picked up the tongs and prodded at the organ Edward had gestured to. It was so gross!

"It's squishy!" I whined. He laughed at that.

"Would you like me to take over?"

"Yes please," I said in a small voice.

He easily grabbed the tongs from me, and identified the organs quickly. We were done before anyone else.

"That's so gross," my face scrunched up in disgust. He laughed his musical laugh again at my expression.

"So, Bella." He began, pulling off his gloves. "would you mind if I joined you on your trip to Seattle?"

That was unexpected. "You want to come with me?" My heart fluttered at the idea.

"I thought that would've been obvious considering I just asked you, but, yes, I would like to join you."

"I guess that would be fine." I hoped he didn't notice that I was blushing.

* * *

The next morning I woke up feeling terrible. My throat burned and my head felt like it weighed fifty pounds. I got up and searched the house for medication, but we didn't have any. Great.

I grabbed another blanket from the lined closet and buried myself in my bed, drifting back off to sleep. There's no way I was going to school today.

Around mid-day I woke up to the doorbell ringing. I climbed out of bed, my head still about to explode and headed downstairs to see who it was.

"Who is it," I croaked, my voice barely above a whisper. I didn't think whoever was here would've heard me.

"Bella," came the velvet voice, sounding worried.

"Edward?" I whispered, my heart suddenly pounding hard as I opened the door. He was standing there looking down at my face, too beautiful for words.

"Alice saw you were sick. How are you feeling?" He asked.

"I'm fine," I croaked, but my hoarse voice gave me away. He frowned at me. "Do you want to come in?" I asked trying to be polite.

"Thank you," He stepped threw the threshold never taking his eyes off of me. "you should get back to bed, Bella, you don't look good."

I blushed deeply, realizing that I was still in my pajamas.

He smiled at my embarrassment. "Don't worry," his eyes were suddenly piercing through me, "you look still look beautiful."

And I couldn't move my legs.

"What medication are you taking?"

"I don't have any. I figured I'd just wait for it to pass." I shrugged and instantly regretted it. My head was pounding harder now.

He frowned at me again, still managing to look godly. "You go to bed, I'll be back with something for you. What are your symptoms?"

"Edward, you don't have to do that, I'll be fine-"

"Bella," he said, cutting me off, "what are you feeling?"

I sighed in defeat. "My head kills and my throat feels like I swallowed some broken glass."

"You go back to bed, I'll be back soon." And he was gone.

I made my way up to my room as quickly as I could, brushing my teeth, washing my face and pulling my hair into a ponytail. I changed into a pair of soft, fitted sweat pants I'd gotten while shopping with Alice and a clean black t-shirt. I grabbed my comforter and decided to lounge on my couch, not wanting Edward to see my messy room. By the time he came back I was wrapped up on the sofa.

"Here, take this," he handed me a bottle of Tylenol then flew into the kitchen to get me a glass of water. I followed his instructions.

"Thank you," I whispered when I'd taken the pills.

"Lay down please," he ordered gently. Again, I obeyed, bewildered at his sudden behavior change. Why was he being so nice to me?

"This is unexpected." I said, once I was comfortable. He sat on the love seat. "What are you doing here? You're supposed to be in school."

"So are you."

"Yes, but I have an excuse for why I'm not in school. What's yours?"

"I'm taking care of you." His eyes met mine as he smiled crookedly. The magnificence of his smile took my breath away.

I had to look away before I could remember how to breathe again. "Thank you."

"Its no trouble," He said simply.

We sat in silence for a while. "Why are you here, though?"

"Didn't I just tell you?" He looked confused.

"No, I mean, why did you come? You could've asked Alice to call me or something."

He didn't answer for a while. "I don't know. I suppose I just needed to make sure for myself…"

"Well, thank you" I blushed, "but I'm fine, really. Next time you can just call, though. Not that I'm not happy to see you," I said reading the look on his face, "but I feel bad dragging you away from your life just to take care of me."

He grinned, "honestly, Bella, I really don't mind the disruption. I'd rather be here than in class. But just the same, I'll make sure to get your number from Alice next time I worry about you," he smiled his crooked smile again and my heart fluttered.

"You worry about me?" I was oddly pleased.

"Of course, I've never met anyone as accident prone as you."

I glared at him. "Thanks," I muttered icily.

He smiled wickedly, "your welcome. But seriously, you should try to sleep."

"And what are you planning to do while I sleep?"

"Hang out, watch TV, read a book."

"Ok, have fun," he chuckled at that and then drifted off to sleep.

When I woke up my headache had minimized greatly and my throat felt better. Edward was laying on the love seat reading my old copy of _Wuthering Heights_.

"Hello," I choked out, strangely happy at having him be the first thing I saw when I opened my eyes.

"How are you feeling?" He asked, putting the book on the coffee table.

I sat up slowly, "better. Thank you."

He can over to me and put his hand on my forehead, feeling for a temperature. "You're still warmer than normal, maybe I should go get a thermometer…"

But I wasn't listening anymore for he was touching me. At his touch I felt an electric shock rush through my body, my heart stopped, stuttered, and then picked up again at double time. His face was inches from mine and I could smell a delicious scent coming from somewhere inside of him. It was blissful.

I didn't notice when he stopped talking, I was too busy memorizing his scent, reveling in his touch. His eyes locked with mine, he moved his hand from my forehead, down to my cheek, gently. I couldn't breathe anymore. I wanted to move closer, but I didn't dare move for fear that I would drive him away.

"Bella," he whispered, his wonderful breath blowing in my face, intoxicating me.

"Sshh," I whispered. With exaggerated slowness I moved my hand up to his face to touch his cheek. The instant my skin made contact with his he closed his eyes. I slowly ran my hand over his perfect features, memorizing his face. He was so beautiful. His hand moved down to tenderly cup my neck. We sat there, touching each other's faces for a few blissful minutes.

"Bella," he began, pulling away from me. I did the same, blushing furiously. I can't believe how forward I'd just been with him.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be," he smiled. "Are you hungry?"

"A little,"

"I'll go get you something. How does soup sound?"

"Good."

He reached over to stroke my cheek gently with the back of his hand, looking at me caringly, "I'll be right back." He was gone.

After I could regain my composure, I went upstairs to shower and change. By the time I'd gotten downstairs Edward was back. He'd set a bowl of soup on the table in the breakfast nook for me. I sat down and ate slowly. He watched me silently for a while before finally sleeping.

"Are you feeling better?"

"Yes. Thank you for this, by the way."

"You're welcome."

When I finished eating he picked up my empty bowl and put it in the dishwasher. "I can clean up, you know."

"Don't worry about it," he was done in mere seconds. He turned to me. "Well, I suppose I'll leave you now, since you're alright."

The thought of him leaving made me unhappy. I wanted to ask him to stay, but he'd already done so much for me.

I walked him to the door where we both stood for several silent moments. "I'll see you later, Bella." He said. He was so close to me again…

"Sure, goodnight Edward."

His eyes held mine in an intense gaze, as his cold hands ran gently across my cheek again. He leaned in closer and I heard him breathe in. "Goodnight," he whispered. And he was gone.

**Did this chapter make any sense? Please review! **


	15. Mixed Signals

**Edward POV**

What was I thinking?! I should never have been so forward with Bella. Its one thing for me to make myself miserable but I can't put her in danger because I'm too selfish to let her be happy with someone else. What right do I have to covet her? I'm a monster, I'm not even human. She's an angel. She deserves better.

I suppose it comes down to one choice. I could either try to make her happy with me, knowing that I would be putting her in danger every second that she was with me. We couldn't stay together forever, because I would never let her become a monster like me, nor would I let anyone else harm her. The other option is to push her away now, while she still has the chance to be happy with some else, before she gets too emotionally involved with me. But am I strong enough to make that choice?

* * *

To my dismay, I didn't see much of Edward over the next week. I hung out with Angela and Jessica this weekend and helped them get dresses for the dance, and then Alice told me that Edward had gone hunting for a few days with Carlisle, Esme and Emmett. It made me a little edgy not having heard from him directly since he came to my house. Alice wouldn't meet my eyes when I asked about him either. I had a feeling she had 'seen' something but wasn't telling me.

Finally on Wednesday, I saw him and Emmett getting out of the Volvo on my way into school. My heart fluttered at the sight of him, the images of him in my memory didn't do justice to the perfection of his presence. I walked over as casually as I could, trying not to be too overly excited. I expected him to smile up at me, or grab my hand, or _something_! But nothing of the sort happened. He did smile at me, but it didn't touch his eyes, and then he walked with Jasper, discussing something with him. This was really strange behavior. Had we not had a pretty incredible moment together just a few days ago? Didn't he come to my house to check on me? Didn't he admit that he liked me? Does he regret it now? What was going on?

I pulled Alice behind the others, "what's up with your brother?"

"Oh, don't worry, they'll stop with the public displays of affection soon, but when he's been away from Rosalie for any extended amount of time they tend to make up for it big time," she stated.

"What?! No! Not Emmett! Edward! Why's he acting all weird?"

"Oh Edward!" she didn't look at me in the eye, "I don't know, maybe hunting didn't go well,"

"Is that common?" I wasn't sure what the details of hunting were but it had to me pretty straightforward. Kill, eat, come home, right?

"Um…" there was definitely something she wasn't telling me, but she glared at the back of Edward's head as he retreated, "sometimes, I guess. Ok, class time, see you later Bella!" And she was gone. Ok, now I _knew _something was up.

I spent a lot of time trying to decipher Edward's behavior, with no luck. Maybe something was bothering him. At lunch I tried to make conversation but he kept it polite and monosyllabic. I was getting paranoid. Did I imagine all that other stuff because I was sick? I thought maybe I'd get a chance to talk to him in biology but there was a fire drill and there wasn't much of a chance.

When we were filing back into the building, I took my chance. I pulled him out of line. "Is everything ok?"

He looked like he was expecting this, "sure, why wouldn't it be?" he half-smiled but, once again, it didn't meet his eyes.

"Because you're acting really weird. You've kind of been ignoring me all day. Did I do something wrong?" I tried to keep my voice calm and casual but I couldn't stop the hint of sadness that stained it.

He immediately picked up on it; I saw a flash of something in his eyes before he looked away. Pain? "No, Bella," he looked back at me with his paralyzing stare, "you're perfect." With that he turned and headed back into the class room.

In the short time we had left in biology he tried to make small talk but there was still something different about him. We were almost like strangers again. Hot disappointment flooded through me.

The change in attitude hurt me; I didn't realize what high hopes I'd had for how things would go with Edward. I don't know how I deluded myself into thinking someone as magnificent as Edward would want to be with me. I mean, he was clearly a creature of perfection, a paragon. And I was a clumsy little girl with nothing to offer him. He probably came over out of pity the other day, thinking I had no one and couldn't take care of myself.

But then a thought hit me. He'd flirted with _me_! He was the one who initiated everything, if he didn't want me to get the wrong idea he didn't have to stay. He didn't have to touch me. He didn't have to do anything. I was suddenly and irrationally livid. When biology finally ended I stormed out without even looking at him.

I was still fuming when I got to gym. I changed in a daze not paying attention when I noticed Lauren was laughing at me. Angela gently pointed out that I had my shirt on backwards. I fixed it quickly and left the locker room expecting the usual torture of basketball or volleyball. But I was shocked when I entered the gym. There was gymnastics equipment set up everywhere.

"Oh no," Angela whispered to me, "this won't be good." She dreaded gym almost as much as I did.

"I know, I'm _so_ not limber," I heard Jessica whisper to Lauren.

"Hey, at least you're sure to be better than Bella," Lauren whispered back maliciously. We'll see about that, I thought.

Everyone girl got a turn on the balance beam. All we really had to do was get on, jump a few times and then jump off. When it was my turn I stood facing the beam for a few seconds. I heard Lauren giggle behind me and I smiled.

I jumped on, did a pirouette and then a cartwheel easily with no trouble. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see everyone's face contorted in shock. No need to mention that my mom had put me in gymnastics classes when I was younger to help with my balance problems. I turned and did a full split right on the balance beam, then bent my head back towards my back leg gracefully. Finally I did a cartwheel combination dismount and stuck the landing.

I turned around and everyone was staring at me like they couldn't believe what just happened. To make it even better, Lauren fell off twice.

"Bella!" Alice said, coming up behind me as I was leaving gym class. "I saw your routine! You were awesome! Where'd you learn how to do that?"

I shrugged, "When I was in phoenix I took gymnastics lessons for a while. Its no big deal."

"That's so cool!" she beamed.

"Ok, Alice, I said as we reached my car, "can you please tell me what's up with Edward? It's really bugging me."

Her smile faded and she looked away from me, "you'll have to ask him. He's kind of being a jerk right now."

"So you've noticed, huh?" I said rolling my eyes.

She shrugged as we walked towards the parking lot.

* * *

The next day wasn't much better. Edward and I hardly spoke at all. At lunch I refused to let him see how much he hurt me. I spoke animatedly with his siblings.

"Seriously, you think _Spiderman_ could beat Superman?!" Emmett looked at me in shock.

This whole discussion was hilarious. Rosalie had made a comment about how Emmett compares himself to superman. Then Alice commented on how Jasper relates to Batman. That's when I chimed in saying Spiderman could take them both. Both boys looked at me like I was crazy.

"Well, Superman has super strength and stuff, but Spiderman is very agile and bendy, he'd disarm immobilize Superman in a matter of minutes."

"True," Jasper chimed in, "but Batman would be another story. He's got better senses; he would anticipate Spiderman's moves before he actually did them, thus making him the better fighter."

"No way!" Emmett, exclaimed, "both those idiots can't even compare to Superman! I mean, they both get their powers from stupid tiny animals while Superman… his name says it all. He's a _Super Man_!!"

We all laughed at how serious he sounded. Even Edward laughed at him. His eyes met mine for a brief minute before turning away.

"Emmett,

please be serious. You think Superman could beat Batman?" Jasper asked rolling his eyes.

"You don't?!"

"Nope." They continued their dispute for the rest of the hour.

We walked to biology in silence.

"Ok, enough Edward," I exclaimed before walking into the classroom, turning to face him. "Please tell me what's going on. What'd with the sudden frostiness?"

He looked at me questioningly.

"Oh, don't pretend you don't know what I'm talking about! Spill!"

He looked at me, unsmiling, "later, I promise." And he turned to enter the room.

Great. Just what I needed, time to drive myself crazy. The period went by slowly, Edward barely looked my way. It was unbearable.

When I left gym, Edward was waiting for me outside.

"So it's later?" I asked.

He smiled slightly, "yes." We began walking to my car, slower than normal. "Listen, Bella. I made a mistake."

I braced myself for the hit.

"I shouldn't have misled you like that. I don't think it would be right for us to be anymore than friends."

It wasn't so bad. At least he wanted to try to be friends. Honestly, it had never made sense that he would feel the same way about me as I did about him. He was perfect and I was severely flawed. I understood perfectly. Now all I had to do was convince my heart that I hadn't fallen in love with him. No big deal, right?

I shrugged, "its ok," I said, surprising myself at how casual it came out. "I figured. It's no big deal."

He looked surprised, "you're not angry?"

"Honestly Edward," I sighed, "It would've been a lot better had you just told me from the beginning instead of making me drive myself half insane trying to figure out your motives, but, no, I'm not mad."

He didn't speak.

"Ok, well, see you tomorrow," I said as I turned away towards my car. My straight face lasted all the way home.

* * *

**Following Day**

**Text Message From: Rosalie Cell**

Bella ur coming over to our house today. I've got a lesson for u

**Reply Text Message From: Bella Cell**

Uh oh

**Reply Text Message From: Rosalie Cell**

Ur learning how 2 drive a stick shift

**Reply Text Message From: Bella Cell**

R U OUT OF UR MIND!

**Reply Text Message From: Rosalie Cell**

No

**Reply Text Message From: Bella Cell**

R u sure?!?!?!?!

**Reply Text Message From: Rosalie Cell**

Ur going 2 need 2 know how… sooner than u think :)

**Reply Text Message From: Bella Cell**

4 what?!

**Reply Text Message From: Rosalie Cell**

U will see

**Reply Text Message From: Bella Cell**

Plz just tell me!

**Reply Text Message From: Rosalie Cell**

Cant but I promise itll be fun

**Reply Text Message From: Bella Cell**

Oh sure, just like throwing out my favorite clothes was 'fun'?

**Reply Text Message From: Rosalie Cell**

That WAS fun

**Reply Text Message From: Bella Cell**

oh yea, I had sooo much fun running around my room naked looking for my stuff. And even more stuff when u guys showed up!

**Reply Text Message From: Rosalie Cell**

That was REALLY fun… well, funny… 4 us :)

* * *

**Please please review, I really need some constructive criticism. I have a whole thing planned for this story, so please keep reading. Thank you for reading this much:)**

**Hey, Lizzy, that gymnastics thing was for you! Hope you enjoyed it!**


	16. Driving Lessons and Mind Games

**Ok, I hope everyone had a killer weekend! But I need some help. Please let me know what you would like to see happen in this story, besides Edward and Bella getting together. I need ideas!!!**

**I Don't Own Anything**

* * *

I was hauled against my will to the Cullens' house after school. I had no interest to go; whatever event they were planning that dealt with me driving a stick shift I definitely wasn't interested in. Besides, I felt a little disheartened when I thought of how stupid I ever was to kid myself into believing that Edward could ever see boring old me as more than a friend.

But they forced me to go anyway. I followed them in my car and they beat me there, of course. When I got there I saw a small royal blue toyota sporty car parked in front of the house, but it was unlike any toyota I'd seen driving around in Forks. First of all, even someone with as little knowledge of cars as me would know that this thing was seriously enhanced. It was low to the ground with thick wheels with a sleek fin in the back.

When I got out of my car Rosalie and Emmett where already waiting for me.

"Leave your stuff in the car," said Rosalie as she led me to the driver's side of the little blue sports car and pushed me in, "you won't be needing it."

Alice was sitting in the backseat. "Bella, this is going to be so much fun!"

"Can someone please explain what's going on?!"

"Isn't it obvious?!" Emmett grinned at me wickedly. "We're racing!"

"WHAT!?" I tried to run out of the car but Rosalie had already shut the car door in my face and was getting into the passenger seat. "Have you gone insane?! I can barely walk! What makes you think I can race a car?!"

But they ignored me, "Bella, we're going to teach you. Trust me, you'll enjoy yourself."

I folded my arms across my chest, refusing to touch the steering wheel. "No way, I'm not killing myself so you guys can get a few laughs."

Alice sighed impatiently, "did you really think we'd let you do this if it wasn't perfectly safe?!"

Emmett opened the driver's door again and buckled me in quickly, "yeah, Bella, relax. Besides this car is covered in airbags… we made sure _your_ car had that special feature." He laughed.

"Why?! Why me?! Why can't you guys just race?! I'll watch." I was pleading by now, my face twisted in fear.

"Bella, please give this a chance," Alice begged in her most persuasively innocent voice. I made the mistake of turning to look at her and she had the most heartbreakingly sad look in her eyes… I knew I was going to give in. I sighed in exasperation and defeat.

"YAY!" She bounced up and down in her seat.

"So every once in a while, we like to race. We can't do it very often because of traffic or weather, but we recently found this perfect spot where no one ever drives through and it's only about half an hour from here. Alice saw that it would be the perfect time to race."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. "Streetracing?!! You want _ME_ to streetrace?!!!"

"Bella, we've done this many times, don't worry, it's not a windy road or anything. It's almost perfectly straight."

Alice chimed in, "Anyway Bella, this time we've figured out a way to make it _extra_ fun! We're going to play teams!"

She was beaming so widely I thought her cheeks were going to fall off. "You and I will be on one team. Rosalie and Emmett will be on another, Edward and Jasper and then Carlisle and Esme."

"Carlisle and Esme agreed to this insanity?" I asked skeptically.

"Are you kidding, they're psyched!" she bounced.

"Ok Bella," said Emmett, still holding the drivers door open and bending down to reach the pedals with his hands. "This here is the clutch, you have to press that with your left foot"

"What?! But I don't know how to drive with my left foot… I-I'm right footed." I stammered stupidly, too freaked out at what they were getting me into to make comprehensive sentences.

Emmett threw his head back and laughed boomingly, "Bella, life with you around sure is funny!"

"No, Bella, there are three pedals." Rosalie explained, "gas, brake and clutch. The clutch you have to learn to control with your left foot."

"There are _THREE_…?"

"Yes, three pedals." She continued to explain the basics of stick shift driving while I payed rapid attention, so as not to miss anything that could save my life.

Emmett had climbed in the back now and was aiding Rosalie in my lesson, "you have to learn to find a balance with the clutch and the gas, both have to work together for it to work"

"Oh good," I said sarcastically, "because I'm a freaking natural when it comes to balance."

After an entire afternoon of the car stalling, weird engine noises and me freaking out randomly and slaming on the brakes, I felt like I really had a good handle on it. My stomach was growling, so I bid them goodnight and drove my own car home, ignoring Alice's suggestion to take this car home to "practice".

"The race is only a few days away! Don't you want to be ready?!" She'd reasoned, but I ignored her and left. This was going to be a long few days.

* * *

The good thing about learning to race with Alice was that it left me little time to think about Edward since I was too busy worrying about staying alive until the end of the race.

Also, I'd talked to Charlie a few times on the phone. It was always a bittersweet feeling, talking to my father because I was always happy to hear from him, wanting to know that he was ok. But I also felt extremely sorry for him, and perhaps a little for myself. I had one parent in rehab and one who didn't seem to care about my existence anymore. On the rare occasions I would talk to Charlie (he wasn't allowed much outside world contact in the program he was in) it left me sad for a good while before I was able to move on to thinking about something else.

I noticed Edward staring at me in the cafeteria once, the night before I'd had a long talk with Charlie and had successfully held back my tears through the entire conversation, not wanting to cause him any further pain. The misery must've been written all over my face that day because he continued to stare all through biology.

He pulled out a piece of paper and wrote

'_how are you feeling?'_

'fine, why?' did he know more than he was letting on? No, I thought, how could he? Must just be clear from my expression.

'_you don't seem ok'_

'well, I don't know what to tell you' I felt a little bad about responding so harshly.

He didn't respond for a while. '_Bella, I know I'm the last person you'd ever feel you could turn to for support. However if you ever find that you need to talk, about anything… I would like you to know that you can come to me.'_

I was stunned. I stared at the paper for longer than I should, feeling the blood stain my cheeks.

'I'm fine. Really. You don't have to say that.'

He looked at me, with an odd expression in his eyes. I couldn't identify it. Before he had a chance to reply, however, the bell rang.

* * *

**Edward POV**

I had been to Bella's house last night, again. When I'd arrived she'd just hung up the phone after talking to someone and she quickly fell to her knees and cried for a while.

Seeing her so sad broke my heart. Angels shouldn't cry; it just wasn't right. I wondered why she was so sad, who she'd been talking to. I watched her the rest of the night as she cried until she was too tired and drifted off into a troubled sleep.

"mom, pick up the phone," she murmured in her sleep. Then she sighed, suddenly angry and threw her arm across her face. I had to laugh at her adorably angry expression. She was so innocent; so beautiful.

After a while she began whimpering softly, sounding so sad. I leaned closer, wanting so badly to touch her, to feel her warmth on my skin. But I didn't deserve her.

"Edward," she murmured softly, still asleep. She breathed in deeply, then smiled. "Edward," she murmured again, happily. Then she turned and slept deeply once again.

My heart nearly burst with happiness at having my name escape her perfect lips. I gently brushed her hair aside, slowly.

"I love you, Bella," I whispered softly, before I made my way out of her window once again.

* * *

**Bella POV**

Alice had seen to it that I practiced often enough to get really good. I had to admit that once I'd gotten the hang of it, the speed was thrilling. I'd pushed the little blue car to speeds I never thought I'd reach in a car and found myself driving fast everywhere now, though not as fast as I did with Alice. The day before the race, she'd insisted on coming over for a dry run. I heard a horn beep outside and went outside to prep for the race with her for the hundreth time. I expected the blue toyota to be outside waiting for me but it wasn't. My jaw dropped as I saw Alice in a neon yellow Porsche sports car.

"What's this?!" I exclaimed, still awed.

"It's my Porsche 911 Turbo," she said as she stepped out of the driver's seat and ran her hands along the glossy paint job, admiringly. "I got it last Christmas."

"What happened to the toyota?"

"Oh that was just your practice car. We've disposed of it already. We couldn't have you practicing on the actual racing cars," she said as if it was the most obvious thing in the car, "what if you crashed? That car would be ruined."

I rolled my eyes at her, "gee, I'm glad your priorities are set in order."

She ignored me and went around to the passenger side. I got in the driver's seat and we were off.

This car drove _way_ better than the toyota. Every move was smooth. It was like the car was anticipating every whim I had and acted with me to make it happen. We drove along a couple of deserted roads that Alice had 'seen' no one would come through.

"Why all this practice? Can't you already see who's going to win."

"Nah, people keep changing strategies all the time so I can't ever know for sure. They've all gotten really good at manipulating their decisions so that I won't see things they don't want me to see. It's really annoying."

I laughed at her aggravated expression.

**I'll be putting another chapter up later today but please please please review and let me know what you think of this one. I already have 4 more chapters done, but they need a little tweaking (I'm not completely happy with them yet, but as soon as I am I promise they'll be up) :) Review please!!**


	17. The Race

**_I updated my profile so there are links to the images of the cars in this chapter that actually work. Woo hoo!_  
**

**This is me not owning anything :(**

* * *

The day of the race I headed over to the Cullens' house around noon. We'd all hung around for a while, except Edward who was in his room. When the sun was starting to descend Alice announced that it was time. 

The excitement in the air was contagious. But then again, it could've just been Jasper. We all headed to the garage. I'd never been in the Cullens' garage before, but I was certainly not expecting what I saw. It was a huge lair with eight cars parked neatly inside. There were the cars that I'd seen them driving around, like the Volvo, the red BMW convertible, the black Mercedes I knew to be Carlisle's and the yellow Porsche, but there were four others that were foreign to me.

There was a sleek black Lexus convertible sports car which Carlisle and Esme got into. Then there was a light silver Infiniti sports car that Rosalie and Emmett got into. Edward and Jasper got into a shiny grey Aston Martin that was so beautiful I couldn't stop staring. The last car was a huge Jeep that I assumed was used for off roading, judging from the straps I could see inside and the gigantic wheels. Alice and I got into her yellow Porsche and followed the others.

I was nervous and excited at the same time. Alice was bouncing up and down in excitement. She kept giving me pointers the entire time and encouraging me.

"So no idea who the winner is going to be yet?" I asked her.

"Nah, I've been too focused on prepping to get anything about this race. If I'm really focused on something I won't really get any visions. It's weird, but it's like there's someone at the door, but my brain is too busy to answer it."

"That's good, at least it's a fair game then."

"Yea, street racing is one of the few things we do where our abilities don't interfere. Because it really depends on how well you drive. Visions, mind reading and super strength won't really help you win. And Jasper promised not to use his abilities tonight, so it's a fair game."

When we arrived, the drivers parked their cars in a row and we all got out.

Carlisle explained the rules of the game, "Ok, two teams will race at a time. We will race from here to the bridge exactly two miles down this road then turn around, switch drivers and come back." I gulped, involuntarily, "The first team back in each round wins. Each team will have a chance to go against each other team. So that means 3 races each. If your team loses 2 races, you're automatically out. The last team standing wins."

Anticipation and enthusiasm was in the air. The first teams to race were Emmett and Rosalie against Carlisle and Esme.

"Good luck, to you guys," Esme said with a mischievous grin on her face.

"Won't be needing it, but thanks," Emmett said confidently stepping into the passenger seat.

"We'll see about that," Carlisle warned, with very confident smile.

Alice rolled her eyes, "as you can see, Bella, the trash talking gets pretty intense."

Edward, Jasper and I laughed.

They had brought a rifle and shot blanks into the air to signal the start. The instant the blank bullet exploded the cars were off, speeding away from us. In a matter of minutes they were both coming back, I couldn't tell who was in the lead until the very last second when the black Lexus pulled ahead in front of the Infiniti, winning the race. I saw Esme get out of the driver's side with a triumphant grin on her face. Emmett and Rosalie had sour looks on their faces.

Next were Alice and I against Emmett and Rosalie, who looked at us with wicked grins on their faces; they were obviously not looking to lose twice in a row. I was first in the driver's seat.

"Are you ready?!" Alice shrieked excitedly.

"Sure," I nodded weakly. I just hoped nothing went wrong.

"Come on, Bella, this is supposed to be fun! Relax! You'll do fine!"

"Ok," I said, looking over at Edward whose eyes were locked on mine. He seemed emotionless for a minute as I looked at his perfect features, but suddenly, his one eyebrow cocked up and he grinned, comforting me. I instantly relaxed, then looked back at Alice and smiled at her. "I'm ready."

"Good," she beamed at me.

The seconds before we heard the gunshot seemed like an eternity, but finally it went off and both our cars blasted toward the bridge. I surprised myself with the ease I felt, like I'd left all my nerves at the start line. Emmett and Rosalie pulled ahead of us quickly but I wasn't giving up so easy. I pushed the car faster until I spotted the bridge and spun the car quickly around to face the opposite direction, stopping it and scooting over to the passenger seat where Alice had quickly exited and was already shutting the driver's side door. She sped off towards the finish line as quickly as she could, keeping neck in neck with Rosalie who was now driving. Rosalie suddenly sped off ahead of us, and won the round. She looked smug as she stepped out of her car and smiled at us.

Next it was Edward and Jasper against Carlisle and Esme. I couldn't take my eyes off Edward as he stepped into the driver's seat but I blushed furiously as he looked back at me. He looked so calm, collected, but excited. I realized I was nervous… for _him_. Not good. He no doubt guessed I was still hung up on him.

But to my surprise he just smiled brilliantly at me and kept our gazes locked until Rosalie held up the gun. Alice gave Jasper a quick good luck kiss and came next to me to watch.

The gun shot another blank and the cars sped off into the darkness. In a few minutes we saw the Aston Martin speeding towards us, pulling ahead of the Lexus and winning that round. They pounded fists triumphantly, getting out of the car.

Edward looked my way again and I smiled at him. He seemed to find some kind of comfort in my gaze because he looked strangely contented.

After they won, Edward and Jasper immediately raced against Emmett and Rosalie, winning that race also.

It was our turn again, against Carlisle and Esme. I got in the driver's seat again, more prepared this time.

The gun sounded and I shot towards the bridge at an intense speed.

"Yea, Bella Go! Go Porsche! Go!!" Alice squealed in delight.

"Alice, the Porsche doesn't understand English!" I laughed, only half paying attention to her as I was speeding towards the bridge, "You need to talk to it in its native language!"

She took on a dreamy tone to her voice, "Ahh, _mi__belissimo Porsche. Te Adore!"_ she sang in a thick, fake Italian accent. "_Vaya, coche magnifico mio!"_

I was cracking up as I stopped the car, spinning it around easily and throwing myself into the passenger's seat. I was still holding my sides in laughter when we crossed the finish line first, winning the round.

When we won, Alice jumped out of the car and was bouncing up and down screaming, "_mi bella Porsche, ti amo!_" while I gasped for air between laughs. Everyone was cracking up at her while she hugged the hood of her car tightly.

Finally it was time for the final race; Alice and I against Jasper and Edward. I wasn't nervous in the least anymore, just very keyed up and amused. This was the best night I'd had in a while.

Alice went up to Jasper with her hands on her hips. "So you think you can beat us, the Vivacious Vixens?!" she teased.

"Vixens?" Jasper asked amused.

"Yes, vixens! Right, Bella?" She looked at me for support.

"Sure Alice, whatever you say."

Edward looked at me, his eyes wickedly amused, "so I suppose I should say good luck," he teased, "you're going to need it."

"Oh _really_!" I said in mock anger, "We'll just see about that. Come on, Alice, let's show these _boys…_you know, who's… you know… gonna win and stuff." I blushed furiously and suddenly laughed hysterically at my pathetic excuse for an intimidating line.

Edward and Jasper laughed uncontrollably too, so did everyone else, for that matter. Edward raised his eyebrows at me, "well, _vixens_," he mocked, "may the best team win." And they got in their car and Jasper turned on the radio, confidently blasting a fast paced rock song through open windows. (_Breathe, by Prodigy_)

"Thank you," Alice said haughtily, getting into the driver's seat. As soon as we were both in, she turned to me with a huge, excited grin on her face. "Ok, Bella, ignore those two overconfident idiots. We're so close! We can sooo win this!"

I was so into it now, especially since Edward and Jasper were looking at us like they had this in the bag, bouncing along to the music with confidence. "We're so gonna kick their butts!!" I was surprised at myself; I'm not usually this competitive. That was probably due to the fact that in most areas of competition you have to know how to walk across a flat, stable surface without falling. I wasn't so gifted in that area. But here I was fine; thrilled even.

We started the engine and looked over at the boys in the next car who were looking back at us, grinning. Edward had a wicked look in his eyes as he smiled at me. He really thought they had this in the bag. I'll show him, I thought. I looked over at him, smiling confidently and challengingly.

Alice revved the engine a few times. Jasper did the same. We heard Rosalie, Emmett and Esme cheering while Carlisle got the gun ready.

The gun went off and we rushed toward the bridge once more. We were neck in neck, and I could hear the music pounding, teasing us. Alice pulled forward a tiny bit as we reached the bridge, spinning the car to a stop. I threw myself into the driver's seat as she was already slamming the door shut on the passenger side. I blasted off towards the finish line, aware that Edward was driving right beside me. He started pulling ahead of me, grinning as Jasper jeered at us laughingly.

"No! Go Bella, GO!!" Alice shrieked.

I could feel Jasper looking over at us, smiling, as they took the lead. _I don't think so, boys_, I thought to myself as I suddenly increased the speed and closed the gap between the cars. We swiftly pulled in front of them as we crossed across the finish line.

When the car stopped, I couldn't believe what'd just happened. We won! We actually won! Alice and I screamed and got out of the car quickly, jumping up and down and hugging each other in triumphant glee.

"Oh my gosh! Bella, We won! YAAAYYYY!!!!" Alice's merriment was definitely affecting everyone. Rosalie and Emmett came over and high-fived us. Carlisle and Esme were laughing hysterically as Jasper, thoroughly affected by Alice's joy, was jumping up and down as well. It was the funniest thing I'd ever seen; quiet, usually brooding Jasper, jumping up and down like a little kid at Christmas. He was clearly spreading the excitement.

Edward was smiling brilliantly again as he came over to us. "Nicely done!"

Alice answered before I could, "damn straight!" And everyone laughed and cheered for us and we continued leaping elatedly.

Once we were done celebrating, we climbed in the cars and headed back to their house. Alice and I sang the silliest songs we could find on the radio the entire drive back, opening the windows and blasting the stereo. I couldn't stop the tears of laughter from coming out of my eyes as Alice sang her heart out.

"_Under my umbrella, ELLA, ELLA, EH EH_!" She bellowed, completely out of tune.

We got to the Cullens' house in record-breaking time of course. It was pretty late so I decided to head home right away.

"Goodnight, Bella! Didn't we tell you you'd have fun?" Rosalie asked smugly.

"Yes, you did. Thank you for forcing me to participate. It was awesome."

I waved goodbye to everyone and left. When I got home that night, I drifted off to sleep easily, for once, forgetting about all my other troubles.

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** Thanks so much for reading! **


	18. Vivacious Vixens

**_I hope you guys liked the last chapter, I got really into it while writing it. I have links on my profile that has pictures of the cars used in the race. You can look at those if you like. Let me know if theres anything you'd really like to see happen. And also, please review!!_**

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**  
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**The first school day after the race: **

**Text Message From: Alice Cell**

Hey Bella, guess what!

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**Reply Text Message From: Bella Cell**

Whats up?

>

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**Reply Text Message From: Alice Cell**

WE R THE CHAMPIONS!!!!

>

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**Reply Text Message From: Bella Cell**

I know!! We sooo kicked butt!!

>

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**Reply Text Message From: Alice Cell**

Hey, tell Edward 2 mind his own business, hes reading our convo over ur shoulder

**>**

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**Reply Text Message From: Bella Cell**

Ok, gave him ur message plus a deadly withering stare. That'll show him!

**>**

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**Reply Text Message From: Alice Cell**

Oooh Bella, ur withering stare is so menacing! Good job!

>

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**Reply Text Message From: Bella Cell**

Yea well that's what u get when u mess with the vivacious vixens!

**>**

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**Reply Text Message From: Alice Cell**

Damn straight! Oh, by the way, the teacher is going 2 make u climb a rope in gym next period… and its not going 2 end well

**>**

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**Reply Text Message From: Bella Cell**

NO! how do I get out of it?

**>**

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**Reply Text Message From: Alice Cell**

I don't know… maybe fix him with ur withering stare?

**>**

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**Reply Text Message From: Bella Cell**

U think that'll work?

**>**

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**Reply Text Message From: Alice Cell**

Sure!... oh wait, never mind… that won't end well either… sorry Bella, but don't worry, the rope burn on ur hand wont last too long :)

>

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**Review please :)  
**


	19. Concerned

A week passed before the excitement of the race finally faded. Alice had apparently been so excited about winning the race that Jasper had to periodically send such an intense wave of tranquility towards her that it almost knocked her out.

The Cullens were all going hunting this weekend somewhere really out of the way.

"So, Bella," Emmett started with me in the cafeteria on Friday, "how are you going to survive without us for a so long?"

I rolled my eyes at him, "contrary to popular belief, Emmett, I can take care of myself."

Later, in biology, the teacher handed out a microscope and some slides, telling us to identify each with our lab partners. The papers would be collected at the end of the class. Edward and I were finished before anyone else.

"Are you still going to Seattle this weekend?" Edward asked me, looking at me with a concentrated gaze.

After the whole talk about us being "just friends", I figured he wasn't coming with me to Seattle anymore. When Alice said they were all going on a trip, it confirmed my suspicions.

"Yes," I said, not looking at him, "don't worry, though, I'm not still expecting you to join me." I was hoping that this statement would bring some kind of relief to his face.

It didn't. He looked down at the table for a while, in seemingly deep concentration. "Maybe you shouldn't go by yourself."

"Edward," I scowled at him, "I can take care of myself. Besides, it's a crowded city and I have directions." He was quiet again for a few minutes. I couldn't help but ask the next question. "What does it matter to you anyway?"

He looked livid for a moment. "You think I don't care what happens to you?"

"Listen, I know you feel bad about 'misleading' me or however you put it, but, I'm fine. You don't have to feel guilty about it. I've moved on from that." Ok, so the last part was a lie but he didn't need to know that. I hated causing him any trouble, no matter how I felt, I wanted him to be happy. "It's not your job to take care of me, that's my job. So please relax and have fun this weekend."

"Bella, I was under the impression that we were still friends." His face unsmiling.

"Yea," I said, not meeting his eyes, "we are. So what?"

"Well, as your _friend_," He paused, having trouble with the word for some reason, "I do worry about you. And what do you mean by 'you've moved on'?"

I chose not to answer that last part, "listen, thanks for your concern, but I will be fine." The bell rang. "See you later." I grabbed my stuff quickly and headed out the door.

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**Wanna make me happy? Review!**


	20. Seattle

**Thanks for the reviews, those of you who did. Constructive criticism is greatly appreciated. I'm shocked at how many hits I've gotten. I love you people!**

**Stephenie Meyer owns twilight and all its characters**

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The next day was gloomy, the sun would clearly not make an appearance today. _Oh well_, I thought, _at least it isn't raining_.

I had woken up pretty early so that I could get to Seattle with plenty of time to look around. I hopped in and out of the shower quickly, dried my hair until it was almost perfectly straight, with just a few odd waves. After brushing my teeth I quickly went to my closet to pick out something the wear.

I grabbed a pair or dark skinny jeans that I'd gotten with Alice. It's been a while since that shopping trip but I still hadn't worn some of the things I'd gotten that day. I decided today would be the day I'd finally wear some of my new things.

I put on a cool looking tan scoop neck sweater that lay perfectly on my small frame, I had paired it with a simple chocolate brown tank top underneath. I put on a pair of tall brown boots over my jeans. They didn't have much of a heel and were really comfortable.

I threw my wallet and cell phone into a small leather purse, grabbed the directions and the black coat I'd gotten and headed out the door.

The drive was pretty long, but I enjoyed it, listening to the radio and stopping only once for food.

Finally I arrived. I parked my car in a garage and headed towards the Barnes and Noble I'd spotted. I sifted through endless books, creating a huge pile of books I wanted. I'd have to filter through them again later because this was just way too many. I sat in a cozy armchair at the store and looked through each one, taking my time.

It was a while before I got up, deciding to put a few books back. Not many though. My 'yes' pile was still very large. I was making my way to put back the books when I spotted a tall, pale guy with bronze hair looking at me just a few feet away. I dropped all my books. Edward was there to pick them up.

"Wh-what are you doing here?" I stammered, stunned.

Edward handed collected my pile neatly and smiled at me crookedly, taking my breath away, "Getting books?"

I closed my eyes so that I could focus. "Did you _follow_ me here?"

His smile faded a little, "yes,"

"Why?!"

"Bella, it made me anxious thinking of you out here alone. Please don't be angry with me, I know I had no right. But I couldn't help myself." His eyes were penetrating.

I didn't know whether to be angry or flattered. I decided on angry, seeing as how flattered would make me more vulnerable. But one look into his hypnotizing eyes made me speechless.

"Are you finished here?" he asked. I could only nod, still stunned. "All right, I believe you were going to put these back," he handed me my 'no' pile. "I'll meet you at the check out counter."

I dazedly made my way around to put back the books. I couldn't decide what I was feeling. Was I happy to see him here? Of course I was, I was elated. But that thought made me uncomfortable because I knew that I was falling for him harder now.

When I reached the check out counter, Edward was waiting for me with two bulging bags of books.

"Hey, you weren't supposed to pay for them!" I exclaimed.

He smiled at me, grimly, "I know, but I have a lot to apologize for, so I thought I'd soften you up by buying you books. Please don't make a big deal about it."

I sighed, rolling my eyes. His car was parked right in front of the book store and he opened his trunk and put the books in.

"Where to next?" He asked. "Are you hungry?"

I hadn't eaten since this morning, so I agreed to go to a restaurant with him. He grabbed my hand and led me to a very nice looking restaurant. My heart fluttered at his touch, I blushed knowing he would have heard it.

The hostess couldn't keep her eyes off of him as we entered.

"Table for two, please," Edward said to her.

She looked at the both of us briefly, "Right this way, please," she led us through an almost empty area to a booth. "your server will be with you momentarily."

She smiled, mainly at Edward.

"Thank you," he said, looking at me. When she left, he chuckled.

"What?" I asked.

"She was thinking about what the best way would be to get me alone." He laughed softly.

I frowned at him. "Well, good for you," I said sarcastically.

He looked at me for a long minute while I took off my black coat. "You look beautiful," he whispered as his eyes met mine.

I blushed deeply, "thank you."

Thank goodness our waitress appeared right then, to distract from my embarrassment. "Hello, my name is Holly and I'll be your server today." She was a pretty blonde with very big blue eyes. She looked very excited as she spotted Edward. "Can I get you something to drink?" She asked him.

He looked at me questioningly, "Two cokes?" he was asking me.

"That's fine." I said.

"Ok," Holly said, "I'll be right back with those."

"So how come you didn't go hun- I mean hiking, with the rest of your family?" I asked him.

He smiled, "I told you, it makes me anxious to be away from you, especially when you were going so far away and alone."

I couldn't help blushing a little at his answer. But I didn't know how to respond without making my feelings for him obviously, so I just sighed sadly.

"What is it?" he asked, reading my cheerless expression.

"Nothing," I lied.

"Please Bella?" He was looking at me with those eyes.

I glared at him. "You know, it's really unfair when you do that."

"Do what?" He asked innocently.

"You know what you do to people, ok? Please don't make me say it."

He laughed at that, "I'm sure I have no idea what you're talking about. Enlighten me, please."

I sighed, "you dazzle people." I blushed again.

"I dazzle people?!" he raised his eyebrows, deeply amused.

"Oh don't pretend you don't notice it." My face was a deep red by now.

"Do I dazzle _you_?"

"More than I'd like to admit." I said softly, looking down at the table.

Our waitress showed up again with our drinks. My goodness, she has perfect timing, I thought to myself.

"Ok, so are we ready to order?" She asked only Edward.

He looked at me, as I just picked the first thing off the menu. "Um, I'll have the stuffed scallops, please," I said once she turned to me.

"And for you," she turned back to Edward.

"Nothing for me, thank you."

She took the menus and left again.

Edward was staring at me again, his eyes soft, full of something I couldn't quite identify.

"Bella," he began, "I owe you an apology."

Oh no, I thought. I was sure he was going to tell me how he still only wanted to be friends again. Why did he have to send me so many mixed signals? Couldn't he just stick to one decision?!

"What I said to you before, about us being friends," he began, as I braced myself for the impact refusing to look at him, "it was a lie."

Oh great, so he doesn't even want to be friends with me.

"I can't just be your friend, Bella. Everything about you fascinates me. I've tried to suppress my feelings for you for quite some time now, but it's become nearly impossible."

What? What was he saying? I couldn't believe my ears.

"I don't… understand," I said softly.

He reached his hand across the table and ran it gently against my cheek. His touch was cold and lovely on my skin. "I can understand if after everything I told you before you would like me to stay away from you, it would probably be for the best. But I can't help myself from wanting to be near you. You have captured my heart, Bella." His words were soft, whispered to me gently.

I was stunned and my heart was pounding loudly. "But I thought you said you didn't like me before."

He shook his head, "since that night when I came back, when you spoke to me outside my house, I was gripped by you. I couldn't tell what it was at the time, but there was something inside of me that rebeled at the thought of staying away from you, even though I knew it was for your own good. When you didn't show up at school the day that you were sick, even though Alice told me you would be fine, I had to go and make sure for myself. The thought of anything negative affecting you in any way drives me insane."

He looked down. I was silent for a long moment. In that time, the waitress came back with my food.

"Did you change your mind?" she asked Edward, flirtatiously.

"No thank you," he said curtly, not looking at her.

I wasn't even hungry anymore, just confused. "How is that possible," I asked him once she had left.

"How is what possible?"

"You, feeling that way about me," I was thoroughly astounded, "I mean, look at you," I gestured to him in all his perfection, "and look at me."

He seemed to understand, "you don't see yourself clearly. You're so much more magnificent than you give yourself credit for."

Blushing again, I picked up my fork and popped a scallop into my mouth. I didn't really know how to answer him.

"So, do you think it would be possible to forgive my behavior towards you?" He asked. His eyes were sad and nervous.

"Of course," I spoke softly, my face could not have been any redder. "So does this mean we're dating?" I asked meakly.

"Dating…?" Edward considered that for a minute.

"Or not," I shrugged, clearly disappointed.

He smiled crookledly at me, the affect made me lightheaded, "I think we should try dating. Although, I've never had a real date. I wouldn't know what the normal standards would be."

"Well," I was trying to lighten the mood, "if you want to try to be normal you could start by asking for my phone number."

He looked confused, "couldn't I just get it from Alice?"

I shook my head, "it's not the same thing. When you ask a girl for her number and she gives it to you, it's an invitation for you to call her, it's kind of a rite of passage, if you will, into her world. If you just get the number from your sister, then its just like you're stalking her. Not very charming."

He laughed heartily at that, nodding, "ok, I see your point. So, Bella," he looked into my eyes, his dazzling smile paralyzing me momentarily, "may I have your number."

"hmmm… I'll think about it." I grinned mockingly.

His eyes widened in mock disbelief and I laughed. We spent the rest of the time in the restaurant joking and talking about anything.

After dinner we stopped by a music store where we had fun talking about our tastes in music, which were pretty similar. Edward asked me a lot of questions about my life before I moved to Forks. It was the perfect first date.

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	21. After Seattle

_Some lines in this chapter are directly from Twilight because I felt that some things were so perfectly put by Stephenie Meyer that any interpretation I could have come up with wouldn't do justice to Edward and Bella's relationship. So if you see some familiar lines, please don't hate me :)_

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We each drove home in our own cars, occasionally racing when the road was empty. Of course, I was too afraid of getting pulled over by the police so he would always win. We got back to my house in record time. The weather had gotten really cold and rainy by the time we arrived. 

I ran to unlocked the front door in a hurry, tripping over my own feet. Edward caught me easily before I hit the ground. He spun me so that I was facing me as he supported my weight, bending over me as I was dipped in his arms. I couldn't breathe for a minute as he lowered his head towards me, brushing his lips on mine.

The atmosphere seemed to stop existing for the duration of our kiss. I forgot that we were outside in the pouring rain; all I could focus on was his gentle, cold lips lightly parting mine while his hands were on my back and in my hair, his sweet breath on my face.

But my body took over my mind and suddenly my arms were around his neck, in his hair pulling him closer and deepening our kiss with an urgency that was out of this world.

He froze.

I froze.

"I-I'm so sorry," I stammered as he pulled back and put me on my feet. He was almost perfectly rigid. "Are you ok?"

He took a deep breath and relaxed, and then he smiled at me. "No harm done," he smiled his beautiful crooked smile and I was paralyzed again. "Bella?" he awoke me from my daze, "it is still raining…"

"Oh!" I blushed furiously as I turned to go open the door quickly.

I was drenched as I walked through the front door, I must've looked like a drowned rat. Edward, of course, walked in looking like a model, his soaking clothes sticking gorgeously to his sculpted body.

His cell phone vibrated loudly, "hello Alice," he answered after looking briefly at the screen. He listened for a minute, grinned cheerfully before saying, "thank you," and hanging up.

"It seems Alice predicted my need of a change of clothes and stored some in my car for me." He told me, "why don't you dry off and I'll grab my clothes and do the same."

I agreed, wanting nothing more than to get into dry clothes. I hurried upstairs, grabbing some comfy sweats, but I quickly thought about who would be seeing me in them and went for a nicer pair instead. I found a matching hoodie and a tank top and went to my bathroom for a hot shower.

When I came out, Edward was laying on my bed looking divinely at ease in black sweatpants and a plain grey t-shirt. Upon seeing me, he stretched out his arms, inviting me into them with an entirely too persuasive smile on his face. I complied happily, immediately snuggling into his cold chest. He wrapped his arms around me and held me close.

"So does this mean you're going to give me your number?"

I laughed, "Yes, you can have my number."

"I knew I'd break you in the end," he teased.

I rolled my eyes, "of course you did. You _always_ win."

"Not always. I didn't win that race." He bent his head and ran the tip of his nose along my neck, breathing in deeply.

I smiled, "oh yea! Victory is so sweet." His lips were now at the hollow behind my ear and making their way down my neck. I was finding it difficult to concentrate.

He pulled away soon, and I pouted. He laughed heartily at my expression. "You are so adorable! I just can't seem to get enough of you, Bella." I felt myself blush for the millionth time that day.

I snuggled into him again, breathing in his lovely scent. "I feel the same way," I whispered.

He rubbed my back, slowly as we lay there for a while, completely contented. "So what would you like to do? Are you tired?"

"No, it's much too early for bed. What would _you_ like to do?"

"Hmmm…" he murmured. Then swiftly his lips were at my neck again, kissing his way down my collar bone and then stopping at the hollow base. "I'm actually quite satisfied just being here."

"Me too," I mumbled happily.

He came back up and hugged me close.

There was a question in my mind that I'd wanted to ask him ever since he came back to Forks. But I was afraid of angering him then.

"Can I ask you something?" I asked him.

"Anything," he pulled me far enough away to look into my eyes.

I was nervous. He obviously noticed.

Edward's brow furrowed, "Bella, you can ask me anything."

"Well, I was just wondering… why you were so angry at me when we first met… in biology that day."

He tensed up slightly. "Bella, I'm so sorry about that," he said finally, "but I suppose there is something I should tell you."

"What, you're a vampire? I already know about that."

He chuckled softly, "it's not just that. I wasn't angry at you, Bella, I was angry at myself." He sighed, "it was your scent. It was so powerful and it just called me. It took every ounce of self control I had not to just kill you right then and there."

I was silent. "But you're here now. How is this ok when that wasn't?"

"Well, first of all, I had to hunt a lot before I was to see you again. Your blood appeals to me more than anyone else's. But I've been around you a lot more, and I'm slightly desensitized to it." He looked sullen.

I gently pulled his face back towards mine and kissed him tenderly, letting him know with my actions that it was ok.

"Thank you," he smiled at me, "I don't deserve you. You should be frightened by me. By all of us, I supposed, but by me especially. I pose such a great danger to you."

I fingered his beautiful face softly, "then how can you be around me like this? If it's hard for you…?"

"Because my feelings for you are so strong. I could never live with myself if I ever hurt you Bella. The idea of you lying there, cold, dead; never to see you blush scarlet again, or the look on your face when you see through my pretensions, it would be unbearable. My body seems to instinctively reject any notion that would harm you in any way. I'm so sorry, Bella, for hurting you. For my behavior towards you. I never meant you any harm."

I didn't know what to do to relieve him of the heartbreaking look he had on his face. I knew he felt terrible for how he'd reacted. So I did the only thing I could think of. I pulled him into a tight hug and rubbed his back softly. "There's nothing to forgive." I whispered to him gently.

He held me tightly for a while. "I swear, I'll never hurt you, Bella."

"I know. I trust you." I sighed happily. I trusted him with every part of me.

I don't remember when exactly I fell asleep, but I do know that I was happier in that moment than I had ever been.

* * *

**Edward POV**

She slept soundly in my arms. I couldn't look at her enough; she was so beautiful, so perfect.

I couldn't believe my luck. She didn't hate me, she actually wanted to be with me. An angel wanted to be with me!

"Edward," she murmured in her sleep. I couldn't help but smile as my name escaped her perfect lips. She inhaled deeply then sighed with happiness, "Mmmm… Edward." She smiled.

I laughed softly and then kissed her forehead.

"I love you, Edward," She said in her sleep.

If my heart could still beat, it would burst out of my chest. It was amazing, the affect that those four little words had on me. The feeling that coursed through me was unlike any I've ever felt before. I was happier than I'd ever felt before. And if she let me, I'd do everything in my power to make her feel the same way.

"I love you too, Bella," I whispered softly in her ear as I pulled my angel closer to me.


	22. Bliss

_Ok, I'm SO SO sorry for not updating sooner, but I had the most annoying case of writer's block. I kept writing chapters then going back because I couldn't get the point I wanted to come across correctly. And I wanted to post a few chapters at a time, not just one and leave you hanging for the next one (I might be over-estimating my writing with that last statement) but I did what I could. Anywho, here it is. Enjoy! _

**S.M.O.T.A.I.C : Stephenie Meyer Owns Twilight and All Its Characters**

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I was vaguely aware that it was morning but I didn't want to wake up… it'd been such a good dream. Edward Cullen kissing me… his arms wrapped around me as I lay in bed with my head nuzzled into his chest. I could feel the light from the window in my room and I was sure something was waiting for me to wake up and get it done; homework, or maybe school. What day was it? 

I kept my eyes shut tightly as I felt the last remnants of the blissful dream still in effect… the cold arms around me, the cold chest that my forehead leaned upon. It felt so real.

Too real.

I opened my eyes and gasped, "Oh!"

Edward looked down at me with extreme amusement in his eyes, "good morning, beautiful."

The events of yesterday crept back into my mind slowly, and realizing that it had all been real made me smile. I wrapped my arms around him and pulled myself closer to him. "You stayed!"

He chuckled, "of course I did."

"You watched me sleep?" I was flattered, "weren't you bored."

"Not at all. You're interesting when you sleep." His smile widened, "you talk."

I stiffened, suddenly horrified. I felt blood rush to my face making it scarlet. "No," I whispered, aghast.

Even the beautiful sound of his low, soft chuckle couldn't wipe the humiliation off of my face.

"_Please_ tell me you're kidding." I knew I talked in my sleep, my mother had always teased me about it, but I didn't expect to have to worry about that now.

"Not at all. You were so funny. I had to stop myself from laughing out loud a few times so as not to wake you." The amusement in his eyes was unmistakable.

"Oh no…" I whimpered.

He brought one hand up to my hair, massaging my head and gently crushed it into his chest. It was heavenly.

"What did I say?"

"You got really annoyed with how green everything is in Forks." He chuckled again, but quickly regained his composure after hearing me whimper again.

"What else?"

"You kept saying 'Minnie, stop eating my clothes! Alice won't like it!'" He laughed as I hung my head in utter humiliation.

"Anything else?"

He was silent for a few moments.

"You said you loved me."

I don't believe it. Even in a deep slumber I can't keep myself from doing something embarrassing.

He seemed to sense my discomfort because he quickly put his hands on either side of my face and lifted it up so my eyes met his. "Bella, please don't be embarrassed. If I could dream at all it would be about you. And you should know how I feel about you by now." He kissed me softly. "I love you, Bella." He whispered.

My heart was about to burst out of my chest. "I love you too."

He turned onto his back, pulling me with him so my head was resting on his chest. We lay like that for a few blissful minutes before I realized what I must look like.

"Um… can I have a minute to be human?"

"Certainly."

I got up and grabbed some clothes and my towel and headed to my bathroom, quickly brushing my teeth, washing my face and pulling my hair into a half ponytail. I put on some jeans and a lavender turtleneck before I headed back out to Edward.

He had changed out of his sweats and into dark jeans and an ivory sweater which clung to him, accenting his perfect body. I couldn't stop staring at this marvelous creature in my room.

He smiled, "Alice had added a change of clothes for today, obviously."

I didn't like the distance between us so I walked over to him and wrapped my arms around his neck. He responded by resting his arms around my waist and burying his face in my neck, inhaling deeply and running his nose along my jaw. I was finding it hard to breathe.

Suddenly he picked me up, bridal style, and carried my downstairs, ignoring my protests.

"You need breakfast." He put me down in the kitchen but I playfully refused to drop my arms that were still locked around his neck.

He grinned at me before picking me up once more and sitting me down on the counter, standing before me with my legs on either side of him. He leaned closer and kissed me deeply.

My fingers were in his hair as he ran his hands down my back slowly, pulling me closer to him. Soon his lips left mine and made their way down my chin and to my neck, trailing with kisses, down to my collar bone.

"So what would you like to do today?" He murmured against the hollow base of my collar bone. His cold breathe tickled me; the pleasure was so great that I could hardly form organized sentences.

"This," was all I was able to get out.

His one hand made its way up my back again and settled itself on the back of my head, inviting me to tilt my head back so he could access my neck easily. I instinctively complied, taking immense pleasure in the feeling of his cold lips tracing every part of my neck, slowly and gently. I moved my hands to his back and pulled him closer to me.

All too soon, he pulled away from me.

I pouted and he laughed.

"Bella, you are simply too irresistible."

"Then stop resisting."

His eyes flashed playfully, "trust me, that would not be a good thing."

"Fine," I grumbled, hoping off the counter. "Tease."

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**Please review! I know Edward and Bella get a little frisky for their first day as a 'couple' but what can I say, I like the romance. :)**


	23. Bliss Con't

_This is just a continuation of the last chapter._

**S.M.O.T.A.I.C**

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Edward took me to his special meadow that day, a place he told me he'd never brought anyone before. It was the most picturesque place I'd seen; there were various kinds of wild flowers around and the grass was soft there. We lay on the grass for a few hours in the sunlight, Edward glittering like a diamond. It made him even more stunning (if it was possible).

After it started to get dark we went back to his house and watched a movie with his siblings. It was Jasper's turn to pick the movie so we watched _The Godfather Part III_. I was only half paying attention to the movie because I sat on Edward's lap and he kept rubbing my back and randomly leaning into the back of my neck, running his lips back and forth.

Life was great.

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_Sorry, I know that was bad but I didn't know how else to add in all the meadow stuff. You've read Twilight so you know how special the meadow is. There's no need for me to go into it further (I thought it'd just make the whole thing more boring) _


	24. Invitations

**S.M.O.T.A.I.C : **_See chapter 23 'Bliss' for an explanation on this if you don't know what it means_

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A few weeks had passed since the day I went to Seattle. Edward and I were a very happy couple and it was well known all over school. At first, everyone was shocked. Jessica had cornered me in the bathroom once and begged me for details. The rest of the Cullen clan was thrilled also. Esme had the biggest smile on her face when we told her. Alice had told me later that she was very happy that Edward was no longer alone. Everyone was ecstatic to see him so happy.

It was December and the snow was getting annoying. I'd spent Thanksgiving Day alone with Charlie in rehab. Alice, Jasper, Rosalie, Emmett and Edward had come with me on the trip but dropped me off at the rehab center so I could spend time alone with my father.

Charlie had apologized a lot and we both cried. I told him that I forgave him and that I just wanted him to get better. I told him about my life now; my friendship with the Cullens and my relationship with Edward. This seemed to please him. He said the Cullens had always been a very respectable family in Forks and he was glad that I was happy. It was really good to see my father. He seemed sad but at least he was doing better.

I hadn't heard much from my mother. She called me once and told me she missed me, but I thought that was impossible considering how well she was dealing with having such little contact with me.

I woke up on a Thursday morning and felt a set of cold around wrapped around me. Then the scent hit me; the sweet, intoxicating scent. Edward was here!

I quickly turned around to face him. He had a huge grin on his face.

"Good morning," his velvet voice spoke pleasantly.

"Edward!" I shrieked in delight as I snuggled closer into his chest.

He laughed softly.

"I'm so happy you're here." I admitted. Edward slept in my bed pretty much every night, but I was always a little surprised to see him. He was so perfect; I was secretly waiting for him to realize that he could do so much better. "You're just too good to be true."

He bent his head to kiss my forehead, "_you_ are too good to be true." He sighed contentedly, "and for some unknown reason you seem to like me as well. It's more than I deserve."

I shook my head, "that's how I feel about you."

We were silent for a few minutes, enjoying the close proximity to each other. Then it hit me that I probably looked terrible.

"Ok, time for my human minute."

He pulled away from me, "take your time. I'll wait here."

"Ok," I said, getting up and heading to the bathroom. I quickly brushed my teeth, showered, washed my face and fixed my hair,

_Damn_, I thought, _I forgot my clothes in the room_.

I went back into my room in my towel. Edward looked at me and smiled wickedly. "You really are too good to be true,"

I blushed.

"I'll give you your privacy." He got up and went downstairs.

I quickly started sorting through my drawers, trying to find something to wear. I noticed a few things were missing.

"No!" I exclaimed, crossly.

Edward was quickly at my side, "what's the matter," his brow was furrowed in concern.

I turned to him, "your sister has decided to _steal_ my favorite articles of clothing!"

He relaxed and chuckled, clearly amused.

"Just because they were a little old! They were perfectly comfortable!" I ranted, "Just wait, I'm going to go to the mall and get the_ugliest_ stuff I can find and wear only that until she gives me back my stuff!"

He went back downstairs, still laughing.

I opened the bottom drawer of my dresser where I had neatly folded stuff that I hardly ever wear, because they're too special; mostly stuff Renee had given me from her younger days. I found an old Beatles t-shirt she used to wear.

I grabbed a pair of dark Lucky jeans and headed to the bathroom to change quickly. When I finished I went downstairs to the kitchen and grabbed a granola bar.

Edward came up behind me and kissed my cheek. "You look amazing," he whispered softly. I instinctively tilted my head to the side, giving him access to my neck. He trailed kisses down my neck slowly, making me pleasantly dizzy.

All too soon he pulled away. "We should probably get going."

Sighing, I put on my coat and grabbed my back pack as I followed him out of the door.

The first few periods went by slowly as always. In English, Jessica handed me a small lime green envelope.

"What's this?" I asked her.

She beamed at me, "open and see," she whispered to me.

I opened it slowly. It was an invitation to a party; a sleepover. It was my worst nightmare; a night alone with Jessica and her friends. How was I going to get out of this one?

Jessica was a fickle friend to me. She would be very nice to me until Mike openly flirted with me (which was at least once a week), which is when she would turn sour for a few hours until she got it through her head that I didn't want him. But still, she seemed to like talking to me, maybe in hopes of getting some inside information on Edward and his family. I suppose my interaction with the Cullens made me quite popular, much to my dismay.

"I gave one to Alice and Rosalie also!" she said, grinning, "It'll be so much fun, girls only! And we can do makeovers and stuff! Everyone is going to be there. You _have_ to come, Bella. Please?"

"I don't know Jess; I'm not really into makeovers and stuff." Her smile faded a little, she was clearly disappointed. "Maybe I'll come for a little but and then go home at night."

She was beaming again, "awesome! You won't regret it. Hey, can you get Rosalie and Alice to come too?"

I rolled my eyes, "that's up to them, not me."

When I sat down at lunch, Alice was holding another lime green envelope. "It seems there's a sleepover happening at Jessica's."

"Yes, I already agreed to stop by," I said sulking. Edward put his arm around my waist and I snuggled into his side, already feeling marginally better about the whole situation.

"There's no way I'm going to this," Rosalie said, "Jessica is as mind numbing as her friend. And I don't want to spend hours discussing Mike Newton. No way, count me out."

I looked at Alice with a pleading look, "Alice, please don't make me go alone. Pretty please…"

"Oh Bella, please don't-"

"Alice, you owe me for stealing my clothes! You come with me and they can stay gone!" I cut her off quickly.

She groaned, "Fine!"

I smiled happily. Edward, Emmett, Jasper and Rosalie were all laughing at Alice's defeat.

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**Read And Review Please!**


	25. Messages

**Text Message From: Emmet Cell**

Hey Bella, can I borrow ur slumber party invitation?

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**Reply Text Message From: Bella Cell**

Y?

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**Reply Text Message From: Emmett Cell**

I promise 2 give it back

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**Reply Text Message From: Bella Cell**

U haven't answered my question yet. Y do u need it?

** --**

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**Reply Text Message From: Emmett Cell**

I just want 2 c it. Please Bella?

**--**

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**Reply Text Message From: Bella Cell**

I know Ill regret this later, but fine. It's all urs

**--**

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**Reply Text Message From: Emmett Cell**

Thanks Bella

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**OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo**

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**Text Message From: Alice Cell**

Ok, Im definitely more excited about this party now.

**--**

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**Reply Text Message From: Bella Cell**

Uh oh. What's Emmett going 2 do?

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* * *

**Reply Text Message From: Alice Cell**

Putting fake invitations in everyone's locker. Jessica is going to need more soda.

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* * *

**Reply Text Message From: Bella Cell**

Oh jeez

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	26. The Unexpected Visit

The doorbell rang on Saturday morning. I was expecting Edward to pick me up (he'd been hunting that night and called to say he'd be here in a few minutes) but I thought it strange that he would ring the doorbell. Usually he just let himself in.

"Its open," I called as I grabbed a granola bar. I heard the door open and someone walk in. "I missed you," I said as I made my way to see him.

"I missed you too."

I froze. It wasn't Edward.

Renee stood in the entryway.

"M-mom," I stammered. I didn't know what else to say. I looked at my mother silently.

She looked the same as always, only sadder. She looked at me with a sense of longing in her eyes.

"Bella…" she began. But she didn't seem to be able to find the words.

I could only stare at her. I'd missed her so much; she'd been my best friend for so long. But I was so angry at her for leaving me. For shipping me off and not looking back. For not caring anymore. It hurt more than I thought I'd ever be able to admit to her.

We stared at each other for a few long minutes. I wasn't sure if I was seeing her correctly. Was I dreaming? She looked the same as always, only troubled somehow.

Finally I spoke, "where's Phil?"

"He's back in Jacksonville. He's fine. He wanted to come and visit with me but I thought it best I come alone now." She couldn't look me in the eyes, I noticed.

"Why are you here?" I whispered, not trusting my full voice for fear of it turning into sobs.

My mother sighed sadly, "I've missed you so much Bella."

I snorted humorlessly, "That's funny. I don't remember you ever calling to check up on me. It seems that if you missed me you would have at least called once in a while."

"Bella," she looked on the verge of tears. "I- I don't know how to begin to apologize. I thought you wouldn't want me after how badly I neglected you… I have so much to explain to you… if you'll listen..?" she looked at me with melancholy hope in her eyes.

I heard the front doorknob turn as Edward walked in. He looked worried but as he looked from me to my mother, his concern turned to curiosity.

"Edward," I said to him, softly, "this is my mother, Renee." He looked mildly surprised but also disturbed by my cheerless tone of voice. I couldn't look at her. I kept my eyes on my love, finding comfort and strength in his presence.

Renee was confused, "hello," she said to him, quietly. He shook her hand courteously.

"Pleasure," he said, "Bella, maybe I should come back later?"

"No," I shook my head. I couldn't be in the same room as her anymore. I needed to clear my head, "I'm coming with you. Let's go."

"Wait, Bella," I turned towards my mother as she spoke. "I was hoping we could talk… honey, I have so much to tell you… so much to apologize for…"

My anger surfaced and I could not hold it back, "Oh, _now_ you want to talk," I snapped icily, "that's funny, mom, because you didn't feel much like talking when you shipped me out here. _Or_when Charlie went into rehab. What's so special about now that makes you so suddenly conversational?!" My voice was rising, "You think you can neglect me for _MONTHS_ and ignore me when I need you most but I'm supposed to just drop everything and comfort _you_ in _your_ time of need? Forget it!" My voice broke into a huge sob.

"Bella," she was crying now too. She reached out to hug me but I stepped back, away from her.

"NO!" I screamed at her. "You're too late."

And with that I stormed out of the house.

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**What do you think? Reviews light up my life... and I can't write in the dark so please review!**


	27. Comfort

Edward held me close as he drove to his house. I'd stopped crying about five minutes after we left the house but I still leaned into his chest, his scent calmed me.

We were soon in his room, on his couch and I lay down on his chest, our arms wrapped around each other. Here in his arms I was safe.

"I'm sorry you had to see that." I whispered to him.

"Don't be," he kissed, "I'm glad I could be there for you. Are you alright?"

I didn't answer right away.

"Bella?" he asked again.

"I'm not sure." I sighed, "I'm just so angry at her. What does she think? That after who knows how long, I'd just welcome her back with open arms? She walks around only thinking of herself. She broke Charlie's heart and drove him to alcohol, she didn't even care… she's never once called to see how he was doing or to see how I was doing. What kind of parent does that?"

"Well," he began, "it might not be my place to say, but I got a good look into her mind, and she does seem genuinely sorry."

I was silent for a long moment, "that still doesn't fix anything. She abandoned me. And Charlie. I don't know how to begin to recover from that."

Edward pulled me up so that our eyes were parallel. "It will work out, Bella. I'm sure of it." He whispered to me softly, it instantly made me feel better.

I leaned in to kiss him deeply, my one hand slowly tracing his perfect face. He reach around and pulled me on top of him. I was surprised; this was not usually something he allowed. But I took advantage.

I pulled away from his lips gently, bringing my lips down to his neck, leaving soft kisses everywhere. I noticed his sudden change in breathing as his hands made their way swiftly down my back, gripping my hips, then moving back up my sides and down my back again, repeating the pattern. The feeling was sending me into over-drive. My legs split and were quickly on either side of him.

Bringing his hands to a stop at my hips, he slowly sat up, bringing me with him. My legs unconsciously automatically wrapped themselves around his waist as my our lips met once again. With urgency, his mouth moved down my neck, to the base of my collar bone as I arched back, giving him easy access. I couldn't stop myself from pressing my hips harder against him.

He moaned with pleasure as his hold on my hips tightened, pulling me closer to him. I grabbed his face and brought it back to mine, kissing him passionately.

But suddenly he was on the other side of the room, both of us breathing hard.

"I'm sorry," I choked out through deep breaths. I was sorry at the difficult position I had put him in, the temptation of my blood when I lost control like that must be terrible. But I can't pretend that I didn't enjoy it.

"It's alright," he looked at me with a hunger in his eyes. But I instantly noticed that it wasn't my blood that he hungered. "I'm ok."

He walked back over to me slowly.

"What were we talking about again?" I wondered. I had completely lost track of anything that happened before his lips were on mine.

Edward chuckled and shook his head, "you are so easily distracted."

I hugged him close and smiled, "that's only because you are such an amazing distraction."

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**You know what to do... :)**


	28. Explaining

_Wow! 14,000 hits! You guys are amazing! I love you guys! My gift to you is another 3 chapters. Here goes:_

**  
**

**T.O.T.O.O.S.M**- Twiilight Is Owned by The One and Only Stephenie Meyer

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I arrived back at my house later that day, dreading the thought of having a talk with Renee. I still had no idea what I would say to her but I couldn't avoid it forever. The inner child in me was hurt and angry, but the mature side of me knew that the sooner I faced this the sooner we could move past this.

I did miss her, though, I thought to myself. Since she'd shown up I'd been plagued with thoughts of how we used to be before she remarried. We were best friends, I could share anything with her and she would share everything with me.

Edward dropped me off and walked me to the door.

"Would you like me to stay?"

The thought was so tempting, I could quickly let Renee say her peace and head back upstairs to my room and directly into Edward's arms. But I had to deal with this now.

I raised my hand to trace his jaw softly, "This might not be pretty, I wouldn't want you to have to sit through it."

"I don't mind. I'm here if you need me." He kissed my forehead.

"I know. But I'll be fine." I sighed, "Renee and I have a lot to get through tonight, I think."

"I'll have my cell phone on me if you change your mind."

I wrapped my arms around his neck and hugged him. He, in return, held me close. There, in his arms, I found the strength and support I needed to get through anything.

"Thank you," I mumbled into his neck.

"For what?"

"For putting up with me."

I felt his lips form into a grin at my ear, "anytime. I love you."

"I love you too."

He let go and I watched him walk quickly to his car. I sighed and entered my house.

Renee was seated on the grey couch in a pair of sweats. Her eyes were red from crying.

A miniscule part of me wanted to comfort her but I couldn't let myself do that. I needed to hear her out first.

"Bella." She started, cautiously, "Honey, would you come sit with me?"

Silently, I walked over to the sofa and sat on the opposite end, looking at her guardedly. I couldn't get close to her.

"Bella, I know that no amount of times that I can say this will be enough, but I am so sorry."

I looked at the coffee table in concentration, not having the will power to look at my mother. However, I could feel her eyes on me as she continued.

"I know you're probably wondering why I came here. Why I came back. But you have to understand that I _always_ wanted to come for you I just didn't think you'd want me."

"How could you think that?" My tone was scornful, "you were my mother. We went from sharing everything to you ignoring me in record time… What did I do? Did you just grow sick of me?" I could feel the traitor tears form in my eyes.

Renee suddenly reached out to hug me but I moved back before she could, avoiding her touch. Hurt flashed in her eyes before she went back to her original position.

"Bella, please believe me when I tell you that you didn't do _anything_! You were always the best part of my life; the one thing in my life that I did right! The part that I was always afraid I would screw up somehow…

"Like I said," she continued after wiping her eyes, "I've always wanted to be close to you again, ever since I let our relationship take a bad turn after Phil came into my life. I never meant for that to happen, honestly Bella. I just didn't think.

"I made the biggest mistake when I sent you to live here. I wasn't really thinking about what I was doing to you, I was so carried away with what was going on in my life. I tried to make it better for you, getting you whatever you wanted. I just thought Charlie would be a better parent."

"How could you think buying me things would fix anything?" I sneered at her, "And did I just happen to miss all those calls from you when Charlie went to rehab?"

She flinched at my tone, "Phil and I were in Spain on a second honeymoon when you called. I didn't get your message until after we got back."

"How nice for you," I muttered, looking at the ground.

"I was going to call, honestly, honey, I was but I didn't know what I would say. And that's when it happened."

I looked at her curiously as she took a deep breath, bracing herself.

"Phil and I were in a car accident. A pretty major one." I gasped as she continued, "We got hit by some idiot who didn't know how to drive, apparently. Anyway, it was bad. Phil was in the hospital for about a month. I was in for only two weeks. Phil had a punctured lung and a couple of broken ribs. I had a broken arm, massive bleeding from my head and some internal bleeding. We were lucky to have only had those injuries. The other driver died in the hospital a week after the accident.

"All I could think about when the car hit was you. I kept going over how terrible a mother I was, how much I wanted you to know that I loved you before I died, how I wanted to tell you how sorry I was for Charlie and for not being there.

"But I couldn't bring myself to make them call you. The hospital people asked me several times if there was anyone I could contact. Phil's parents came up to see us and they told them that I had a daughter, but I wouldn't give them that information. How could I do that to you? You had just lost Charlie, I wasn't going to let you worry about me too. I thought I was doing the right thing."

The tears had cascaded their way down my face, "The right thing? You didn't think I deserved to know that you were hurt? What if you had died, mom?! How do you think-" I let out a huge sob that wouldn't stay away, "how do you think I would've felt if you'd d-died and I never…" another sob, "got the ch-chance to say goodbye?"

"Bella, I'm so sorry," she was crying freely now, "I know that doesn't fix it but I am."

We were silent for a few minutes. Then Renee continued.

"After we got out of the hospital, it took a while for us to recover. I healed pretty quickly. Phil has to go to physical therapy for a while but he'll be ok. He'll be ready to play ball by the time the next season starts.

"He could tell I was unhappy. Actually, that's putting it mildly. I was miserable. I couldn't bring myself to face you after everything. I knew you would hate me, I don't blame you. But finally, I worked up the courage to come here. For you. I… I want us to be like we were. I know it won't be easy to gain your trust back, but I have to try. I love you so much, Bella. I'm so sorry."

I didn't know what to say. I could tell she was being sincere and she was very sorry, but it was too much information to process right now.

"Please say you'll give me a chance. Bella, you're the best thing that ever happened to me and I can't believe I screwed up so badly."

She was looking at me with her tear-stained face, with a hope in her eyes that was undeniable.

After I found my voice again, I spoke, "I… think I need some time to think."

"Of course, anything you need." She reached over to me and brushed a stray hair out of my face.

"I'll be in my room. Goodnight." I got up and walked upstairs to my room. Before I made my way up and shut the door I head her whisper a soft "goodnight".

* * *

But I couldn't fall asleep. My thoughts kept going over everything Renee had told me.

I knew she had never been the most mature parent ever, so I could understand how sometimes she wouldn't think things through the right way. She should've told me about the accident. Maybe I would've been ok.

No, another part of me argued, I wouldn't have. After having come home to find Charlie passed out then to hear that Renee could die with our relationship being so unstable… it would've driven me over the edge.

One thing was definite, I had missed my mother. As I thought about it more, I realized that what I wanted was my mother back. My _real_ mother, though; the one who hung out with me and thought up crazy schemes that I'd eventually have to talk her out of.

I heard my window open and then shut quickly.

I looked over to see Edward staring at me, his eyes were a beautiful light butterscotch but his expression was worried.

I held out my arms for him to come to me. He immediately smiled. It brightened up his face, making him even more beautiful. He peeled of his jacket and lay next to me, taking me into his arms.

"How are you?" came his low silky voice in a whisper.

"Fine," I murmured.

"Are you sure?"

"Really, I'm ok." I told him everything that Renee had said to me, the tears arriving when I told him about the accident and her being in the hospital. He crushed me silently against his chest whenever I teared up.

"I'm still a little bit angry, but I'm glad she's here." I admitted to him, "I'm glad _you're_ here."

He rubbed my back in silence, comforting me, as my eyelids got heavy, "Sleep, Bella. I'll always be here for you. You are the most important part of my world. Everything I am is yours."

"I love you…" and I was asleep.


	29. Reconnecting

**T.O.T.O.O.S.M :)**

* * *

It was almost noon when I woke up the next day. Edward was gone but there was a note on my bedside table.

I instantly recognized his elegant script.

_Bella,_

_Renee has been checking up on you every 15 minutes so I thought it would be best to leave for now. Call when you need me. I'll be back later today._

_I love you,_

_Edward_

After reading the note over a few times, I rose from my bed and went to shower. I took my time, still undecided as to what I'd say to Renee. I put on some cute black sweats and a t-shirt, towel drying my hair and letting it down.

Sighing, I made my way down to the kitchen where Renee was sitting at the table.

"Good morning," she smiled at me.

"Good morning," I murmured awkwardly, following her with my eyes as she rose and made me hot chocolate.

I sat at the small table and watched her.

Finally the silence became too much for her, "Bella, _please_ tell me what you're thinking, the suspense is killing me!" she begged, not facing me.

I chuckled softly at her anticipation, "I guess I'm still getting used to it; you being here,"

"Me too."

"But," I hesitated, "I _am_ glad you're here, mom. I was angry, but I missed you."

She looked at me; fresh tears in her eyes. "I've missed you too, honey. More than I could ever tell you."

She handed me the mug of hot chocolate and sat down with me.

"Are you still angry?"

"Not as much," I admitted, "I think it's going to take some time to get things back to how they were, though."

She looked down, "I know. I'm glad you're willing to try, though." She moved as though to come closer and give me a hug but hesitated.

I took my hands off my mug, and waited for her to work up the nerve. She finally came over and hugged me. I felt a her give a huge sob as her grip tightened on me. I couldn't stop my own tears from forming as I hugged her back.

This felt right. I realized now, more than ever how much I missed my mother. We both cried, hugging each other, finally reunited.

* * *

**Later that Day**

It was a very snowy Sunday in Forks so my mother and I had decided to stay inside and spend the day watching movies like we used to, but not before we gathered the necessities. We took my car to the grocery store, leaving her rental car parked in the driveway. The trip to the grocery store had been exactly as all the ones we used to have in Phoenix; crazy.

"Ugh! I forgot that there's no Whole Foods around here," she exclaimed as we arrived at the Thrift Way.

"Oohh! I miss their sushi!" I exclaimed, remembering the one in Phoenix.

"Are there any good sushi places around here?"

"Yea right, mom, we're in Forks. They don't even have Mexican food, you think they're gonna have Japanese?"

"Good point." She said grabbing a cart, "So let's get some snacks. We're going to need sugar."

"Kit-kats," I said as we found the candy isle.

"And marshmallows." She said as she added both things into the cart, "we'll also need chocolate bars and graham crackers for s'mores."

"Pixie-styx" I said, throwing in a bag.

"Man, we're going to have the worst sugar rush ever." She said, analyzing what we had so far.

"Nah, do you remember the sugar rush of '02?" I asked with a smirk.

"Oh my gosh! I forgot all about that!" She gasped, suddenly cracking up, "I think I blacked out at one point!"

"Yea, but too bad you didn't black out _before_ going to flirt with the single guy next door."

"Ugh! No wonder I blocked that out. He never looked at me the same way after that." She grimaced in humiliation.

I was laughing now, "I never told you this but he came over later that night to check on me. He wanted to make sure you weren't 'still drunk' and that you weren't forcing me to get high with you."

Renee's eyes widened as she gasped, "No!" We both laughed.

"Ok, enough sugar," I said, leading her to the chips isle, "We'll need popcorn of course."

"And, caramel popcorn,"

"More sugar mom? Good thing we don't have any neighbors."

"Ok, good point, I'm supposed to be on a diet anyway." She said.

I laughed and shook my head, "ok, _lite_ popcorn then."

"And_baked_ tortilla chips."

"And_lite_ cheddar salsa… wait," she said looking around, "where's the lite cheddar salsa?"

"Mom, I don't think that exists."

"Damn. I guess we'll have to make do with the regular." She said, "Oh! I almost forgot the Oreos and peanut butter!"

"Ew!" I said in disgust.

"Hey, let me remind you that you used to eat peanut butter and banana sandwiches."

"Mmm, I'd forgotten about those."

"Ugh!" she made a face, "I haven't. I used to have to put those foul things together for you."

"Ok, we seem to have enough here to slowly rot our insides. Let get to the video store."

We paid and made our way to the video store, where she bought about ten dvds, all our old favorites. After that we headed to the local pizza place and ordered a lot more food. By the time we got back home, we had to make two trips to the car to get everything inside.

She got the fire started as I put went to put on my slippers. My cell phone rang while I was upstairs. I picked it up and it was Edward.

"Hi!" I said into the phone.

"You sound happier," he chuckled.

"Yea, we're working things out." I said. As I was talking to him, Renee came into the room to borrow some sweats.

"Are you talking to your boyfriend?" she whispered excitedly. When I nodded she jumped in enthusiasm, "Oh my gosh, that guy is so hot! You have excellent taste, Bella."

"Mom!" I said as my face went red.

"Relax; I'm whispering, he can't hear me over the phone,"

I rolled my eyes, knowing that with his vampire hearing abilities he very well_could_ hear her. I heard him laughing on the other line, confirming my suspicions.

My mother was looking at me, biting her tongue, "maybe, you want to invite him over so I could meet him?" she asked warily, unsure if I wanted to share that much with her so soon. "You don't have to, forget I asked." She turned quickly to my closet and busied herself looking for sweats.

"Edward," I said into the phone, "do you want to come over and watch movies with us?" Out of the corner of my eye I saw Renee flash a delighted smile.

"Yay!" she squealed, doing a perfect imitation of Alice. "Hey, your wardrobe had definitely improved! I'm so happy."

Edward laughed as he heard that, "Alice heard that and she's jumping for joy."

"Oh jeez." I rolled my eyes, "Honestly, it wasn't _that_ bad before!"

By the time we heard the doorbell ring we had both changed. Renee insisted on me changing my shirt.

"After all," she'd said, "it's your boyfriend! You have to look nice."

I'd rolled my eyes and complied. She eventually got me to agree to wear a little lip gloss and she put my hair in a pretty half ponytail. She made me take off my comfy slippers and leave on hot pink socks to match with the fitted long-sleeved t-shirt she put on me.

"Ok, mom." I said to her sternly, "ground rules for tonight are as follows-"

"Bella, I wouldn't embarrass you," she assured me in an innocent tone.

"Yea, right." I rolled my eyes, "ok, so NO mentioning of the time I cut my hair by myself."

"Oh! But you were only 4!" Her eyes sparkled as she remembered, "And it was so cute that you wanted to have the same haircut as me!"

"Mom!"

She groaned, "Fine. Is that it?"

"Not even close. NO talking about my ballet days," I waited for her to argue but she didn't, "NO embarrassing questioning of my boyfriend. And please, mom, don't talk about how I thought I could fly… in fact, no stories about my childhood at all."

Renee thought silently for a minute before responding, "Well what if he asks me?"

"What if he asks you about whether or not I ever thought I could fly? Then, yes, you can tell him. But I don't think that's going to happen."

When I answered the door, Edward and Alice were standing there. Alice looked so excited and dressed in cute designer velour sweat suit in a pale yellow.

"Hi Bella!" she pecked me on the cheek. "I hope you don't mind that I crashed,"

"Not at all, come on in,"

Edward gave me a very loving hug, lifting me off my feet. "You look so lovely," he whispered into my ear as my heart fluttered.

When we broke apart I saw Alice introducing herself to my mom and giving her a big hug. My mom looked delighted.

"Mom, you've met Edward," I said to her.

"Hi, Edward, it's so nice to see you again, under… uh… better circumstances."

He extended his hand to her and flashed her his dazzling smile. I smirked as my mother was stunned for a second at his brilliance.

"Uh… what was I saying?" Renee stammered, still dazed.

I cut in, "why don't we head to the living room, everything's set up." I linked my arm in Edward's and followed Alice and my mom. I reached up and kissed his cheek when they were turned around.

* * *

_I don't know if it seems to you like she made up with Renee a little too quickly, but the thought occured to me. But to me, Bella is very mature and she's not generally an angry person. I just can't see her holding a grudge._

_Anywho, reviews are greatly appreciated._


	30. The Party

**Who owns Twilight? Not Me, so don't sue me. Thanks.**

* * *

"Oh. My. GOSH!"

I couldn't believe my eyes as Edward's car pulled up in front of Jessica's house to drop us off. There was loud music booming from inside, people were hanging around everywhere and cars blocked the entire street. It was very safe to assume that the entire Forks High School was here.

A week had passed since Renee came back. I tried to convince her that I could stay home from the party since she was still getting used to everything, but she insisted that she would be fine. So here I was, going to Jessica's party. Damn.

"Emmett what did you _do_?!" I spun around in the passenger seat with my face contorted in shock to address Emmett, who along with Jasper, had decided to tag along to drop us off in order to view the outcome of his handiwork.

Emmett shrugged innocently, "I _may_ have ordered a dj to come and set up here. Oh, yea and he's is about 80 years old; the newest album he has in his collection is a Michael Jackson."

Edward, Jasper and Alice were laughing hysterically as I listened to the pounding music coming from the house, "what _is_ that he's playing?!"

"It sounds like the _Stayin' Alive_ by the Bee Gees," Emmett snorted.

I couldn't help but joining in the laughter.

When Alice finally regained her composure we said goodbye to the boys. "We'll call you when we're ready to come home." She said to Edward as I kissed him goodbye.

"Have fun!" Emmett called from the backseat.

"Thanks," I said sarcastically.

We walked up to the door and rang the doorbell. I don't know how she heard over the music but a frantic looking Jessica opened the door.

"Bella! Alice! Oh my gosh, my parents are going to _kill_ me!" she ranted, "my mom specifically said ten people at the most and only girls. I don't know who ordered a stupid dj, but he won't leave and he'll only play disco music! This is so humiliating! There are _seniors_ here!" She said all this extremely fast. I felt kind of bad for her.

"Is there anything we can do to help?" I asked.

"Um, I don't know…" suddenly there was a huge crash from somewhere inside the house, "oh no! _Now_ what happened?" she ran off in the direction of the crash.

Alice and I walked in to the chaotic party scene. There were people everywhere gathered in groups and talking to their friends. I recognized everyone from school. Lauren and her friend whose name I couldn't remember were trying frantically to reason with the senile dj, but he holding his hand to his ear, trying to hear their requests. I noticed he was repeating the same thing over and over; "Huh? Huh?"

I couldn't hold my laughter in anymore and I started cracking up, Alice joining me.

"Ok," Alice said to me, "if we _have_ to be here for a little while, we might as well turn this into a real party."

"And how exactly did you plan on doing that?" I had to yell over the noise.

"Let's get some _real_ music on," and with that, Alice headed over to the dj. People were looking at her as she dance-walked her way over with graceful steps. Alice was dressed in a funky, off-the-shoulder electric blue top and some ultra cool low rise jeans, paired with some amazing looking pumps. She looked like a short fashion model.

She walked right up behind the sound equipment and whispered something right in the ear of the dj, who looked at her, smiled and nodded.

"How do you _do_ that?" I asked as she made her way back over to me.

"It's a gift," she said, shrugging, "he's only going to be playing 80s music from here on in, but it's better than this crap."

An hour later, it had turned into an 80s rave party. Pretty much everyone was on the dance floor (the furniture had been pushed off to the sides of the living room). Jessica was running around trying to get people out of the upstairs quarters. Apparently, some freshmen boys had decided to go through some closets and came out in some of the ugliest dresses I'd ever seen. They danced around crazily and caused quite a riot. Needless to say, Jessica was not pleased.

I had successfully avoided dancing invitations from Mike, Eric and Tyler and was sitting with Angela and Alice outside, where we could actually hear ourselves think.

"Hey," said Ben Cheney, a fellow junior I recognized from some of my classes. He had made his way over to us and was speaking mainly to Angela, "want to dance?"

Angela looked stunned for a second. Alice and I exchanged grins. "Sure," she stammered and they made their way inside.

"Can we leave now?" I asked Alice.

"Sure, go ahead and call Edward." She handed me her cell phone.

"Alice?" Edward picked up after just one ring.

"No, it's Bella."

"How's the party?" I could hear the grin in his voice.

"Over, for us, at least. Will you come and get us now?"

"Ok, I'll be there in a few minutes. See you soon."

"Bye," I hung up and handed Alice back her cell phone. She had a blank look on her face that I recognized. "Oh no. What's happening now?"

"It's good that we're leaving soon, the dj is going to start trying to dance with some of the girls." I laughed at the mental image forming in my head after her description.

I went back inside to say goodbye to Jessica, leaving Alice outside. I found her arguing with an older girl I didn't recognize.

"You're supposed to be _helping_ me, Pam!" Jessica screamed at the girl. "Some sister you are!"

"Whatever, Jess, you got yourself into this mess, you get yourself out," Pam said, "I'm just enjoying the party."

I turned right back around; figuring now was not the best time. Before I could reach Alice, I felt a hand grab my wrist and pull me towards the dance floor.

I spun around and saw Mike Newton with a huge grin on his face and his eyebrows raised playfully. "Come on, Bella, just one dance."

I shook my head politely but he continued to pull me towards the dance floor. "Sorry Mike," I finally got out of his grip, "dancing and I really don't mix."

He was about to argue when I felt a hand on my waist pull me away from him, "Newton, she doesn't want to dance with you, man." I heard someone laugh.

I looked to see who my savior was, but I didn't recognize him. Mike looked angry, but apparently he didn't want to mess with this guy, so he turned around and walked away. But this guy didn't let go of me.

"Thanks for the save," I said to him, "but I really have to get going."

"Ok, no problem," but he still didn't let go. In fact, he started moving to the beat of the music, pulling me closer to him, "I'm Paul. I'm a friend of Pam's from college."

"Um, I don't know who Pam is," I tried to push away from him, "but I was serious when I said I had to go."

"Aw, please?" He said, still not letting go.

_This guy just cannot take a hint!_ I thought to myself. "Ok, just give me a second." I said, thinking quickly.

He seemed satisfied with the answer and let go so that I could adjust myself.

"Hi!" I shrieked with fake excitement as I waved enthusiastically to an imaginary person over his shoulder. When he spun around to see who I was waving at I quickly wove in and out of the dozens of people crammed into the living room, finally making my way outside to Alice.

"Bella!" Alice called as she saw me. She was laughing hysterically, "Nice work! I was going to come in and rescue you but that was brilliant!!"

"Thanks," I laughed with her, "I'm surprised that worked."

I saw Edward's silver Volvo come around the corner, but before it reached the front of the house, Paul came outside, followed by Pam.

"Hey!" he called as he made his way over to me.

"Uh-oh," I muttered under my breath.

"What happened? I thought I lost you there for a second. Come on, let's go dance." He had a hint of irritation in his voice.

"Sorry, I'm on my way home." I said to him. I linked one of my arms in Alice's and we headed towards the car.

"No way," he grabbed my arm, "you owe me a dance."

Out of nowhere, Edward was out of his car and by my side. "I'd let go of her if I were you," he said in a low, menacing voice. His tone sent a chill down my spine. He could be so scary when he wanted to be.

"Who the hell are you?" Paul asked. He didn't sound so confident anymore though.

"Her boyfriend." Edward's eyes flashed in anger, "and we were just about to leave. I believe she'll be needing to take her arm with her, so if you would be so kind..." How Edward could keep his speech so formal when he was clearly trying very hard to contain his fury was beyond me. I couldn't help but admire him, even at a time like this.

Paul let go of my arm, reluctantly. He seemed to accept defeat, especially since Jasper and Emmett had stepped out of the car and were standing beside us. The three boys were incredibly intimidating on their own, but together, with threatening looks on their faces and hostile stances, they were downright frightening.

Everyone was paying attention to Edward and Paul but I noticed that Pam was staring at Jasper with her mouth hanging open. Apparently she was as boy-crazy as her younger sister.

Pam sneakily made her way over behind Jasper and touched his arm playfully. "Hey, do you want to dance?" She whispered in his ear.

I saw Alice and Jasper both stiffen and spin around to look at her… slowly.

I almost laughed at the look of disgust on Jaspers face. He must sense what she was feeling… and it probably wasn't something very modest.

Alice looked like she was about to murder the girl, "no he doesn't, actually." Her tone was murderous.

Pam was about to respond but one look at Alice's enraged expression made her back off.

"I suggest you both get back to the party," Jasper spoke to both Paul and Pam.

They didn't need any other warning and they both headed back dejectedly into the house.

Edward grabbed my hand and led me towards the car, holding the door open for me. We drove in silence to his house, dropped off his siblings and turned right around to my house. When we reached my house, he parked right in front, turned off the car and leaned his head on the head rest, closing his eyes.

"Are you ok?" I spoke finally.

He pinched the bridge of his nose between his thumb and his finger, "yes."

But I knew better. He was still angry, that much I knew. What I didn't know was if he was angry with me, nor did I know how to calm him. I did the only thing I could think of; I slowly reached my fingers to his face and touched his perfect cheek softly. "I'm sorry," I whispered.

He exhaled loudly, "you have nothing to be sorry about, Bella."

"Aren't you angry with me?"

He turned his head to look at me with his eyebrows furrowed, "of course not. You did nothing wrong. It was that…" he gripped the steering wheel hard, "imbecile. His thoughts were… _very_ indecent. I could've killed him for thinking that way about you."

I reached over to take one of his hands from the steering wheel. I was unable to pry it off myself, but sensing what I wanted, he let go and let me hold his hand. I wrapped both my hands around his, drawing lazy figures on his palm with my thumb.

"You have no idea how pleasant that feels." He spoke, finally smiling.

I tugged on his arm a tiny bit, trying to make him lean over towards me. When he did, I put my lips on his and kissed him sweetly.

He smiled my favorite crooked smile of his after we broke apart, "what was that for?"

"For being my white knight." I grinned at him, "Thank you."

"Anytime." And he leaned over to kiss me again.

* * *

I don't know how good this chapter was, I just finished it tonight. If it sucked, I'm sorry:( 


	31. Christmas

**Hello everyone, sorry it took so long for an update, I've been battling with school and 3 different stories. Thank you for your reviews, really appreciate them, and I love reading them. This is a really long chapter, I'm trying to end it on the best note possible.**

**Of course, I still own nothing, except this awesome laptop and the Taking Back Sunday sticker on it. And a few clothes. As for twilight, that's all Stephenie Meyer.**

* * *

So, a lot has happened since the night of the party. First of all, the police broke up Jessica's party and she is now grounded for all eternity. Second of all, Renee met the rest of the Cullens, who all loved her immediately (it's hard not to like her). Her and Esme had become really good friends and hung out frequently while the rest of us were in school.

School ended soon for winter break and Forks had never looked better. Whatever was usually green was covered with lots of powdery white snow. It was a winter wonderland.

I was less than pleased at this though. After my car slipped and slid on the ice, Edward had come over to put snow chains on both my and Renee's cars. Renee was stunned.

"Seriously, Bella," she said, "he's too good to be true."

"I know," I smiled to myself.

Phil had come down for a few days before going back to spend the holidays with his parents. Renee and I had gotten pretty much back to normal in our relationship.

Christmas was coming up and we had our wacky traditions in motion. We failed to make satisfactory eggnog for the 6th year in a row and ended up buying the store-made kind.

"I just don't understand what I'm doing wrong!" My mother exclaimed one morning, when she tried once again to make some from scratch.

I pushed my cup away from me, "Mom, I think that was just egg… and no nog." My stomach churned at the smell of it.

After that fiasco, we bought a huge tree and had gotten the attendant at the tree-selling place to put it in the bed of Charlie's truck. Unfortunately, neither of us could get it off when we got home,

"Ok, Bella, maybe if we try to hold it around the middle…" Renee considered.

"Mom, there are too many needles… I can't even _see_ the middle of this thing." I said shivering. It was snowing pretty heavily now and we'd both been outside for at least half an hour trying to move this massive Christmas tree. We hadn't even managed to move it off of the truck.

"Ok mom," I said, getting an idea. In the back of my mind I knew this wouldn't end well but I desperately wanted to get out of the cold and would try anything, "I'll get inside and lift the back. You lift the front. Then we could at least get it out of the truck."

Renee jumped into action, smiling excitedly, "Good idea, Bells!"

I climbed into the back of the pick-up truck. Man, it was slippery back here. I bent down to pick up the bottom of the tree, "Mom, do you have a good grip on the front?"

"Yes!" I heard her say, "Ready when you are,"

"Ok, one… two... Lift!" Oh. My. Gosh. This thing was _heavy_. "Ok, I think I've got it… move to the left! ... No mom, your other left … Good … It's almost off! …. Ok, let's move it into the house… Wait! I have to get off the truck… No don't pull anymore! Mom! ... OW!"

My mother had been pulling on the other end of the tree too fast for me to maneuver my way off the truck in a safe way… instead I'd fallen off the side. Now the bottom of the tree and I were both on the ground.

"Bella!" Renee dropped the tree and came over to my side, "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry, are you ok?"

"Yes, I'm fine," she helped me up, "but we're never getting this thing inside."

We both stood there staring at it for a few minutes before a silver Volvo pulled up in front of the house.

"Need any help?" Edward asked as he got out. Esme, Alice, Emmett, Rosalie and Jasper came out of the car also.

"We're saved!" Renee shrieked, jumping up and down in a perfect imitation of Alice.

Everyone laughed. Emmett and Jasper picked up the tree easily from either side and took it into the house.

"Why couldn't we have done that?" My mother asked me in mock-frustration. I just laughed at her and shook my head.

Edward was at my side, leading me into the house as Esme and Alice greeted my mother, "Are you ok? Alice saw you fall off the truck."

I put my arms around him as soon as we were in the warm house, "Yes, I'm fine. No harm done," I reached up on my tip-toes to kiss his lips.

He smiled, kissed me back sweetly and shook his head, laughing, "The minute I leave you alone for two seconds, you're falling out of a truck. What am I going to do with you?"

I gave him a very innocent smile and shrugged my shoulders, "Love me?"

He laughed some more and kissed me deeply.

Emmett and Jasper set up the tree in about ten seconds in the living room. On the opposite side of the room, I went to start a fire in the fireplace before Edward took the lighter out of my hands, "Why don't you let me handle this one?" His eyes were wickedly amused.

I rolled my eyes at him. "Fine."

Esme and Renee had come inside; Esme was laughing as Renee went through the many ways we'd tried to get the tree off of the truck.

Alice came into the living room with a few huge shopping bags.

"Alice," I sighed as I took off my coat, "what did you do?"

"CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS!!" she shrieked excitedly.

"But Alice, we already bought decorations," I don't even know why I bother… it's no use arguing with Alice.

"Yea, but I had a feeling you didn't get enough so I got these."

"Oh Alice, that's great!" Renee said, "Set them down with the rest of them in that corner. We'll have to go through them all in a little while."

My mother was used to Alice going overboard by now. It was weird but they were so similar in that sense. If one didn't overdo something, then the other was bound to.

--

**Later that Day**

"Ok, enough lights," Esme said shaking her head as Alice turned plugged in the many strings of lights now on the tree.

It was a couple of hours later and we were all settled in the living room. Alice, Esme and Renee had taken charge of decorating the tree. Emmett and Rosalie were cuddled together in one corner watching the madness from a distance, laughing at random things. Jasper was being put to use by Alice and he had to lift her up every time she wanted to get around the top of the tree, since she was so little. Edward and I had joined Rosalie and Emmett on the smaller sofa. I was cuddled on Edward's lap, as we laughed at the jolly chaos going on.

"I think you're right," Renee stepped back to look at the brilliant tree. It had many little multi-colored lights around it, "Time for ornaments!"

Alice jumped up, "You guys to the ornaments, I'm going to do the rest of the house," before anyone could stop her she had grabbed two bags of stuff and flown from the living room.

Renee laughed and shook her head, "She moves so fast for such a little girl,"

Esme chuckled, "You have no idea." She and Renee got to work on the ornaments.

After about half an hour they were almost done. "Bella, come here," my mother said. I got out of Edward's lap and went over to her, "Angel or Star for the top?"

I looked over at Edward, _my_ angel and grinned then looked back at my mother, "Angel, definitely." Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Esme grin happily.

"Ok, then Bells," she said handing me the angel, "you do the honors." Edward came over and lifted me easily so that I could reach the top and place it in its spot.

"Yay!" Renee squealed like a little kid when the tree was finished.

I walked over to the other decorations sitting in the corner. "Stockings next?"

"Yea, bring them here."

I did and Esme looked over the many stockings. "I thought it was only one per person?" She asked questioningly.

I counted them again, making sure we had the right number, "Yea, there are 10. That's right."

"10?" Edward asked in confusion.

I smiled and held them out for them to see. Esme took one and turned it around; it had her name on the top in shiny silver letters.

If she could have tears in her eyes, I could tell from her expression they would have started spilling over at this point. She came over and hugged me.

"You thought we wouldn't have gotten one for everyone?" Renee said as though it was the most absurd idea she'd ever heard. She went over and put her arms around Esme. "Now, how are we going to get all these onto this mantel?"

I left her and Esme to figure that out. Edward was smiling crookedly at me, taking my breath away. He took my hand and led me into the kitchen.

"Looks like Alice has already been here," he said, taking a look around the kitchen which was decorated with garland and tinsel.

I wrapped my arms around him and rested my head against his chest. He immediately put his arms around me as well and kissed the top of my head. "I love you." I mumbled to him.

"I love you too, Bella. More than you'll ever know." His breath tickled the top of my head.

I thought about that for a second and then sighed.

"Is something wrong?" he asked softly.

"Well…" I hesitated, I didn't want to ruin this perfect day but there was something that has been on my mind for a long time, "Edward I need to ask you something."

"Anything." He said after a moment.

I took a deep breath. "Are you ever planning on changing me? Into a vampire, I mean?" I asked meekly.

I felt him stiffen.

"Bella," he whispered, "I love you too much to take away your soul."

I could feel a lump in my throat building, "So then, you're planning on leaving me?"

He pulled me back and looked intently into my eyes, "Bella, I will _never_ leave you. Not unless you want me too." As he spoke he shook my shoulders gently, emphasizing his words.

I looked at him, sadness creeping over me, "but, Edward, I'm going to grow _old_. All I want more than anything else is to be with you. Forever." Tears were burning in my eyes now.

He pulled me close to him once again, "Bella. I could never forgive myself if I took you life away from you. You have so much to live for."

"But I live for _you_!_You're_ the only thing that matters to me. Why can't you see that?"

He sighed deeply and rested his chin on the top of my head, "but Bella…"

"Edward, don't you want to be with me?"

"Of course I do, Bella. You know that. You gave my life meaning and purpose. You changed my world."

"Then…"

"I can't change you into a monster, Bella. I won't do that to you."

I sighed impatiently, "Edward, you don't honestly think you're a monster do you?" He didn't answer. "Edward, if you truly believe that you don't have a soul, then how do you explain your ability to love? Or your conscience? Or the remorse I know you feel for certain things?"

Again, no answer.

"Ok, then, how about Esme? Or Carlisle? Do you think that two people exist in the world that are kinder or more caring than them? Can you honestly tell me that you believe that they are monsters? That they have no soul?"

Silence.

"Edward I may never have gone to church on a regular basis but I'm pretty sure that in order to be able to be as kind and loving as you and your family are, then a soul is required. It's your choices that determine your humanity, not your diet."

He tightened his grip on me, pulling me closer to him.

"So, if you're not going to change me, then you're going to have to come up with a better excuse." I said, finally.

Edward kissed the top of my head sweetly, "Bella, you're the most amazing person I've ever met. I love you so much… more than I'll ever be able to put into words."

I felt the tears fall down my face, "how can you say that and not want to be with me forever?"

"Bella, I do! I want you around for eternity. I want you with me always. But I'd feel so guilty from having taken you from your life."

"But it's what I want! … Please Edward. Please consider it," I begged him.

We stood silently for a while, holding each other and listening to the random noises coming from the other room where everyone else was gathered. There was laughter and an occasional loud bang, meaning that Emmett was surely up to something.

After a few minutes of silence between Edward and I, Alice came bouncing into the kitchen. She smiled at me and pulled me away from Edward and into a huge hug. "Yay, Bella, I'm so happy!"

I smiled at her, "what's going on?" I asked as I hugged her back.

"I just saw something AWESOME!" she shrieked.

"What did you see?" But she didn't answer me. She was looking at Edward and smiling brilliantly. Then she went over and hugged him too.

"Thank you," I heard her whisper to him.

He laughed and hugged her back, "Yes, I think so" He said to her, answering the question she must've asked in her mind. "Just don't say anything yet, please."

"She's going to figure it out sooner or later," she reminded him.

I stomped my foot frustratedly on the floor, "Will someone please tell me what is going on?"

Alice turned around and beamed at me, "Nothing… _sis_…" she said bouncing.

"Alice!" Edward said rolling his eyes at her.

"Oh Edward, I haven't given anything away!"

"She's smarter than you think, Alice."

I thought for a minute… Sis? Does that mean what I think it means? Is Edward going to… wait… he's not thinking of… it can't mean he…. Is he going to propose?

"Edward?" I looked at him questioningly, "Does this mean you've decided to…" I was so hopeful that I couldn't even finish my statement.

He must've seen it in my eyes because he pulled me over to his chest and hugged me close again, "Yes. I've decided that you're right… I don't want to ever live without you. And one day, after enough time has passed, of course, we'll have to make you a little more durable…"

I shrieked with happiness and kissed him passionately.

"What's going on in here?" Rosalie said, coming into the kitchen, Emmett following her.

Alice said something too fast and low for me to hear. But Emmett and Rosalie caught it easily.

"Oh," Rosalie said as if it were obvious, "Well, duh… we all knew that would happen eventually. I mean they have trouble staying apart for even a couple of hours."

"But Bella," Alice cut in, "regardless of whether or not you were ever a vampire, you are already our sister."

"Yea," said Emmett, "you're one of us whether you like it or not. Deal with it. You're our mascot."

"Thanks Emmett," I laughed.

Esme called us from the other room. When we walked back into the living room, the lights were off and the entire room had green garland intertwined with red tinsel decked around the walls. The Christmas tree stood proudly in the right corner of the room. The only lights were the brilliant ones from the tree and the light of the fire. The mantel over the fireplace was adorned with 10 overlapping stockings, each unique and with its owners name written on the top in beautiful shiny silver letters.

"It looks great," Edward said hugging me to his side. My mother and Esme both beamed at Edward and me. My family and I stood around the room staring at the beautiful tree. It was the best Christmas I could ever remember.

After a few minutes, Emmett broke the silence by proposing a snowball fight.

"Ugh!" I exclaimed, "Can't I just watch?"

"No!" Alice and Emmett said together. I knew it would be no use to argue.

"Ok, so Bella, I think we should team up again." Alice said to me, "You know how we rock as a team."

I laughed, "Good idea, the Vivacious Vixens are back in action!"

"That's right! Watch out you guys, we're coming for you!" Alice said in a mock-threatening voice as we all made our way outside.

I was bundling up for dear life when Edward came up and tied my scarf around my neck. "Vivacious Vixens, huh?"

"Yep." I said confidently, "Are you scared?"

"Absolutely terrified," he laughed and kissed me on the nose before we both went to join the others.

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**You know what to do... :)**


	32. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

It was a great Christmas indeed. While we had been at our house decorating, Carlisle had volunteered to go and get Charlie at the clinic which he was staying at. (The roads were icy and no one wanted my mother or myself driving in such conditions.) Renee made a less than perfect holiday meal, though none of the Cullens ate much anyway, so it didn't matter. Charlie and Renee spent Christmas day telling the Cullens embarrassing stories about me. Emmett laughed louder than anyone when he heard I used to think I could fly… it was definitely not the highlight of my holiday.

In the months that followed, Emmett, Rosalie and Jasper "graduated" high school and were supposedly attending Dartmouth University. Renee went back to Florida with Phil but she visits a lot more often. She made me promise to come down and visit. She also made Esme and the rest of the Cullens promise that they would visit soon also. She visited again during the Easter holidays, at which time she pulled Edward aside to talk to him about something. Neither one would tell me what it was all about but they were both grinning a lot afterwards… I'm still trying to get Edward to tell me.

Charlie made a full recovery and is returning to work in July, under certain probations at first, of course, but I truly believe everything will work out the way its supposed to.

As for me and Edward, we're still as happy as can be. This year I gained a family and a soul mate, hopefully for eternity. Our lives certainly aren't boring and I'm sure there are many adventures in store for us in the future, but I'll save that for another story.

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**Thank you to Sunybee, the true creator for this story, for her idea and for allowing me to continue her story. She deserves all the credit for this. Thank you guys so much for reading the story. **

**I don't know if there will be a sequel or not. I suppose if a good idea for one comes to me, then I will write one, but I won't force something out just to have a sequel because I don't think that would make for a good story.**

**Please stay tuned though for my other stories, I would love to know your opinion on those as well, if you'll do me the honor of reading them. : ) Thanks again, you guys rock!**


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